Monthly Archives: August 2010

Quote of the day–wfgodbold

Posted on by

How do you know he’s not a robot sent back in time by Skynet to disarm the resistance before it starts?

wfgodbold
August 24, 2010
Referring to Robb Allen’s idea for a screenplay of a Terminator sequel where Paul Helmke goes into the future to try to explain to the resistance why they shouldn’t be using guns.
[I had not thought of that! That makes as much sense as any other reason I can come up with for why Helmke does what he does. We all know that the real reason for gun control cannot be crime control.–Joe]

All the easier to strip search you

Posted on by

So. You thought you could avoid those intrusive airport technological strip searches by not flying on a commercial plane? You thought they were just were doing that to “other people”? You thought it was okay to look the other way as your Fourth Amendment rights were violated when you flew on an airplane. It was all in the name of “safety”, right?

Via Andy Greenberg (via an email from Chet), coming to your neighborhood soon:

Gee, I wonder why they didn’t show any people in that video? Oh! Andy has some pictures of that too:

That is through vehicles. I would expect the walls of your home will be just as revealing. Imagine what you look like when you are just walking down the sidewalk.

Expect lots of “security sweeps” for the womens basketball and volleyball tournaments. We can’t be too careful with our precious women at risk.

The phrase “concealed means concealed” now means nothing. And since we let them get away with it at airports what’s so special about a public street now? Some terrorist could kill just as many people at the convention center as they could on an airplane. So why shouldn’t the convention center have the same security theater as the our airplanes?

I’ve pointed this out before but what Pastor Martin Niemöller said about the Nazi’s and what Sebastian observed, “What goes around comes around.” is very true.

You play a very risky game when you make exceptions to fundamental principles.

NRA-ILA asks “Just One Question”

Posted on by

Linoge pulls a couple paragraphs out of the same NRA-ILA post for his QOTD. That is good stuff but I liked this part:

…with no correlation between LCAV’s ranking and the states’ widely divergent
firearm-related death rates, no recognition of the fact that most
firearm-related deaths are suicides, the frequency of which cannot be restrained
by any gun control law, and no recognition of the fact that the world is still
waiting for any evidence that any gun control law on the planet has ever
prevented individuals or regimes from committing crime.

Emphasis mine.

That is the essence of my Just One Question.

Nice!

Quote of the day–Paul H. Blackman

Posted on by

There is certainly a tendency for nation with restrictive gun laws to authorize additional powers to the police to violate the ordinary rights of privacy … .

Paul H. Blackman
From the book From My Cold Dead Fingers–Why America Needs Guns, Third Edition (“Final Chapter”), page 130 by Sheriff Richard I. Mack.
[I would like to believe that as we push back the infringements on our specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms that we can also make progress on our infringed rights to be free from unreasonable search, seizure, and our right to privacy. Can the people at large be educated to understand the general principle of limited government is applicable to both the keeping of arms and the right to privacy? Generalization appears to be a difficult thing for most people. They don’t seem to understand political principles. They get involved in “issues” without understanding the principles. The “War on Drugs” is no different in principle than a “War on Guns”, or a “War on Poverty”. Yet you rarely see people espouse positions that are philosophically consistent.

Oh well. One issue at a time is all I can handle. And taking on the issue of philosophical inconsistency is just too big and too nebulous.

The TSA is next on my list after we essentially win the battle over guns. It might be a decade or so but I think we will get there.–Joe]

Crap for brains

Posted on by

Someone has their tin-foil hat on too tight and is asking if the NRA funds the Brady Campaign.


The answer is no.


I would like to point out that the NRA people have lots of things to do besides get involved in politics. They have instructors to train, classes to create and teach, they have events to put on, they have ranges to help design and build. If gun control activists and politicians were to go extinct the NRA would have lots of things to do that probably would be a lot more fun that wading through the mud with the politicians.


On the other hand–if the Brady Campaign were to get a universal ban on firearms in this country they would have to move on to knives and sharp sticks. So if they had millions of members and were in fear of their money drying up they would be more likely to fund the NRA (or some other pro-freedom group) as their boogieman.


While I’m pointing out people with crap for brains–Here are a couple more examples:


dissentus:



The more important matter here, however, is the fact that these people have the guns. The mistake that we on the Left make is our advocacy for gun control. Make no mistake about it, when the working class rises up to take their rightful place as the ruling class, there will be people on the Right with guns, and they will not hesitate to shoot. Wisdom would therefore dictate that the Left not be left with only rakes and hoes to defend themselves.


Most of the people I know with guns or are activists for gun owner rights just want to be left alone. They want the government to back off to it’s constitutionally authorized limits. The constitution does not create or grant that there should be a “ruling class”. There are public servants and not much more.


7514328:



Congressmen, Senators, HMO’s and health insurance companies have profited for far too long. They are the causation of the current health care crisis. Get rid of the health insurance companies and the millions of illegal aliens and problam fixed. Free health care for all US citizens. Its a moral right. Not to be profited by anyone. Its genocide by the health insurance companies. They need to pay for their racketeering scheme for turning ours healths into national profits.


“A moral right”? If they had said “A Human Right” or a “Natural Right”I would have known what they were talking about and been able to tell them they didn’t know what they are talking about. But a moral right is meaningless to me so I guess have to address them at that level.


There is no such thing as a free lunch. You no more deserve free health care than you do free food. And that’s not just because I derive profits from a farm and a wife who works in the health care field. Do you demand the grocery stores to give you food for free? Isn’t food a more basic need than health care? Until you demand free food you are nothing more than a hypocrite. And the instant you demand free food you expose yourself as a communist. If you believe communism is the appropriate political philosophy then go join or create a commune. There is nothing in the laws of this country that will stop you and your friends from doing the same test (and achieving the same result) as millions of other people have done over the last 150 years. And if you are smart enough you will avoid killing yourself and a few tens of millions of people in the process.

Nice presentation

Posted on by

Barb thought this was particularly well done. I liked it too. The strong defense for private ownership of firearms is very well done. It’s a little conspiratorial in places but he did present the basics of “left” versus “right” being a limiting concept fairly well.

Quote of the day–Kristen Comer

Posted on by

As long as we allow an individual right to trump public safety, families are going to lose their loved ones.

Kristen Comer
Executive Director Washington Ceasefire
January, 2010
Press sounding ‘Taps’ over Kline legislation, hearing turnout could cinch bill’s demise
[Comer
is referring to the Second Amendment and the Washington State
Constitution protections of the right to keep and bear arms. But think
about that quote in terms of other specific enumerated rights–Include
the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Twenty-sixth Amendments. If someone is
willing to disregard and advocate the destruction of one guaranteed right why not another or all of them in the name of “public safety”? That mindset,
that opposition to freedom, is what I want exposed and politically
exterminated. I want membership in those type of organizations to be as
socially unacceptable as the KKK is today.

The famous Benjamin Franklin quote comes to mind.

I find it interesting that Comer’s blog
has not had an entry in over a year. Even when she was “active” it was
only about one post per month. A search of their web site for her name
reveals only one hit not a blog post–from 2008. And neither she nor her
title are list on their “About” page with other staff members. Has she
been muzzled? Are they demoralized? If it was “just” funding surely they
could maintain a blog. I manage to make at least one blog post per day
without any funding (the advertising here earns something like
$1/day).–Joe]

He needs your comments

Posted on by

Portland Oregon mayor Sam Adams (how ironic) wants your comments on his plan to violate Oregon State’s preemption law and the Second Amendment:

  • Impose a special curfew for juveniles who have been found by a court of law
    to have violated gun laws.
  • Create new city crime of failure to control access to a firearm by a child
  • Create new city crime of failure to report theft or loss of a firearm
  • Increase penalties for possession of a loaded firearm in a public place
  • Exclude people who have been found by a court of law to have violated
    firearms use or possession laws from areas of the City in which illegal use of
    firearms is markedly greater than other areas. Exclusions to be enforced
    through arrest for trespass, but with many variances available for necessary and
    non-harmful activities.

He wants your feedback by Friday September 3rd. You can review the draft code provisions here and email him at mayorsam@portlandoregon.gov.

Quote of the day–Michelle Obama

Posted on by

Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual.

Michelle Obama
February 18, 2008
YouTube video: Michelle Obama: “Barack Will Require You to Work.”
[There is more than a little truth to that statement. It won’t be by him “allowing” it. It will because he and his freedom hating associates were removed from power.

Recent polls indicate we are making decent progress toward the desired goals.–Joe]

Communists like Obama but hate guns

Posted on by

People’s World is a communistic propaganda organization:



The People’s World / Mundo Popular is a national, grassroots newspaper and the direct descendant of the Daily Worker. Published by Long View Publishing Co., the PW reports on and analyzes the pressing issues and struggles of the day: for workers’ rights, peace, equality, social and economic justice, democracy, civil liberties, women’s rights, protection of the environment, and more.


The PW is known for its partisan coverage. We take sides – for truth and justice. We are partisan to the working class, racially and nationally oppressed peoples, women, youth, seniors, international solidarity, Marxism and socialism. We enjoy a special relationship with the Communist Party USA, founded in 1919, and publish its news and views.


Since the first issue of the Daily Worker came off the press in 1924, our press has been in the battles of the U.S. working class and people’s movements. From the battles of the unemployed and the campaigns to organize the CIO, through the civil rights and peace movements of the 1960s and ’70s to the struggles that have given us the “new” labor movement, to the people’s upsurge that elected our first African American president, and now the growing movement for a progressive, people’s agenda – we’ve been there.


They seem to really like President Obama and think he is “brilliant“.


They claim opposition to gun control is the covert platform of the Republicans and are opposed to it:



Derail gun control. Pander to the National Rifle Association, white supremacist, and the “cowboy” element of society. Ignore the terror that illegal guns have wreaked in our inner cities.


Private property and capitalism are, of course, also a covert platform plank:



Religiocize Capitalism. Write it into the Constitution. Make private property, profit and exploitation a commandment from God.


When the people advocating a political philosophy responsible for over 100 million dead in the 20th century praises President Obama and is opposed to gun ownership and private property it sort of makes you think, doesn’t it?

Quote of the day–Jeff Knox

Posted on by

On July 29th, the new constitutional carry law in Arizona went into effect, removing all requirements that a lawful gun owner obtain permission of the state before carrying a firearm concealed.

Just as the folks from the Brady Center Against Guns and the Violence Policy Center had predicted, virtually everyone in the state has either been killed or seriously injured by gunfire in the ensuing two weeks, and drug and outlaw biker gangs are running rampant, since the police can no longer ticket them for unlicensed carry of concealed weapons.

In other news: Dewey defeats Truman, Elvis Presley is alive and Martian spacecraft have attacked New York.

Jeff Knox
August 19, 2010
‘Arizona reverts to Wild West! Blood runs in streets!’
[Yes, there is some exaggeration of the anti-gun position on constitutional carry in this commentary. But what isn’t an exaggeration is Jeff’s article is that any changes in the crime or accidental injury rate are not visible at a glance. And, almost for certain, even after a year or more any crime increase attributable to the changes in the law will be non-existent.

It boils down to people intent on committing violent crimes largely ignore laws restricting the carrying of weapons. The firearms restrictions were only obeyed by people who were no threat to society.

So, you have to ask, “What is the real reason for gun control laws?”–Joe]

Gun cartoon of the day

Posted on by

When has someone said having a permit is a guarantee of perfect behavior? Having a “permit for a gun” is no more a guarantee of perfect behavior than a drivers license is a predictor of perfect driving.

But if you were to read the VPC or Brady Campaign publications with their lists of people with permits that committed crimes you would think concealed carry permit holders were billed as perfect angels and they are disappointed to find out we are mere mortals–with a lower rate of crime than the general population and police officers.

Layers of Oversight

Posted on by

Heard on a local AM radio newscast this morning;



A Deary (Idaho) man charged with aggravated assault and unlawful discharge of a firearm into an inhabited dwelling.


The firearm was described as;



“…a three oh eight caliber shotgun.”


At first I thought maybe it was a combination gun and they just did a clumsy job of describing it, but no.  They just got it wrong.  I wonder how many people had to approve the copy before it aired, and how many other mistakes they’re making regularly that I wouldn’t notice so easily.


It’s like the talk show host I’d never heard of, but ran into briefly the other night.  He sounded pretty good, like he knew what he was saying about relationships and politics, until he started talking about getting electricity from any point in space, from gravity.  HE had the answer, which the oil companies had kept secret for generations!  At that point you have to not only question everything he says, but seriously doubt it.  It might not even be fair to cast doubt on all his human behavioral analysis based on his lack of understanding of physics.  One can be well versed in one subject and ignorant of another, but it’s very hard to take someone seriously again after hearing such an ignorant bit.  We all make mistakes, but wow.  In the case of a news service, with reporters, editors and anchors, it’s a different story.  Those proverbial Layers Of Oversight are supposed to catch these things.

It’s a start

Posted on by

A
Democrat Walks Into a Gun Range…

I object to her instructor starting her out with a “baby-Glock” in .40 S&W. A .22 pistol would have been better. But she does fine:

Shooting is fun, y’all. I am not even going to lie. It’s a visceral rush each
time you pull the trigger. But, really, it is terrifying. It’s an extreme
responsibility, and one that I wish people didn’t take so lightly.

I think more trips to the range are needed:

I’m still terrified, I still support gun control, strongly. I’ve never witnessed
one of these Baltimore murders, and I hope to God I never will, nor be a victim.

But now I’ve asked the questions for myself and taken the time to do my
research. I hope others are able to do so. Don’t ever say you haven’t tried to
walk in everyone’s shoes.

And she shouldn’t worry so much about people finding out she is a Democrat.

Quote of the day–Sarah Brady

Posted on by

The defeat of Washington State ballot Initiative 676 is a disappointing loss for the state’s citizens, but the reasons behind it are clear.

…

Unfortunately, the NRA outspent the home-grown Safety First Campaign by more
than five-to-one and successfully scared many Washingtonians out of voting for
this life-saving measure. Safety First, which led the fight to pass I 676,
should be commended for standing up for what is right in the face of opposition
from the one of this nation’s most ruthless and devious special interest groups.

The NRA’s guerrilla tactics are the highest form of flattery. Since when
does the gun lobby have to work so hard to defeat a measure in so-called ‘friendly’ territory? Clearly, the tides are turning in the gun control debate.
More and more Americans, gun owners and non-gun-owners alike, are demanding
stronger measures to prevent gun deaths and injuries. I 676 may be dead, but the
gun control movement in Washington State and around the country is becoming
increasingly mobilized and potent. This is certainly not the last we will hear
from our friends at the Safety First Campaign or their counterparts in other
states around the nation.

Sarah Brady
Nov 4, 1997
STATEMENT OF SARAH BRADY RE: NRA’S BIG GUNS HOLD WASHINGTON STATE HOSTAGE TO
WEAK GUN LAWS
[See here and here (even though the NYT got a lot of things wrong) for more information on I-676.

Nearly everything in this statement is false. I participated in this campaign and spend many nights at “ground zero” (CCRKBA campaign headquarters in Bellevue) at a personal cost of $1/minute in take home pay (I could have been earning overtime at my high paying contract job).

The lies and distortions are as follows:

  • The vote was 71%-29% against the initiative.  Even the liberal Seattle Times and Seattle Post Intelligencer editorial boards came out against it. 71% of the voters were not disappointed. When only a minority of citizens were “disappointed” it is inaccurate to say the “state’s citizens” were disappointed.
  • It had nothing to do with safety. It would have required gun owner licensing, training, firearm registration and, probably due to poor wording rather than intent, paperwork to transfer the gun back and forth if you let the guy in the shooting booth next to you fire a couple rounds. It was about putting barriers up to exercise a specific enumerated right recognized by both the Washington State Constitution and the U.S. Constitution.
  • The NRA came to the game late. It was the CCRKBA that lead the fight and put up most of the early money. Private polls showed we were ahead in September before the NRA dumped their money into the campaign.
  • Washington State was considered friendly territory to the anti-gun forces. Initial polling gave I-676 an easy win, something like 60-40 IIRC.
  • When voters stomped the anti-gun people into the mud 71 to 29 that is hardly a difficult win. We put more money and effort into the campaign than we knew was required to maximize the margin. We didn’t want to repeat the fight the next year or in another state. We wanted them completely demoralized and a stake driven through the heart of those concepts. It worked. They didn’t try that again anywhere–contrary to Brady’s prediction.

But I do agree with Sarah Brady on one item. The tide did turn in the gun control debate.–Joe]

They say ‘Big Brother’–I say ‘Party Time’

Posted on by

Other bloggers say:

I say it’s Party Time.

There are many, many other options. Here is just a very small sample:

If I could get some custom made they would say “TSA = A Security Theater”.

Big Brother wants to spends millions on technology that can be defeated by $20 worth of plastic you can by online.

I have had mine for several years. Do you have yours?

Congressional hearing on gun control

Posted on by

I usually am pretty well informed on these sort of things. But I didn’t hear about this:

National lawmakers were in Chicago
holding a Congressional hearing on proposed gun control legislation
today.

The Closing the Gun Show Loophole Act would require
private sellers at gun shows to perform background checks before selling
firearms. Illinois passed a similar law in 2005.

Jody Weis is
superintendent of Chicago Police. He says the law should be implemented in all
states.

WEIS: It’s just common sense legislation. I don’t see how anyone
could say this is restrictive when we’re simply asking for a background check if
you’re going to buy a weapon. This is pretty simple to understand.

“Common sense” legislation that raises the price, demands you get government permission, and enables backdoor registration, for a specific, enumerated, constitutionally protected, right.

What do you want to bet the people at the “hearings” only heard what they wanted to hear? Who attended? I can only find the one reference to this hearing which is very short on who we need to vote against in the next election.

And since when do they hold congressional hearings in Chicago? If they are going to hold hearings someplace other than D.C. it’s not surprising they chose Chicago for their gun control get together. If they had held it in Idaho, Arizona, or even Washington state they would have had protesters.