The View From North Central Idaho

I never used my anemometer more than that day -- mostly out of curiosity. We got a real bad ice pellet storm at about 1300 with full value winds from 15 - 35 mph but mostly hovering around 25. Almost a white out. The ice pellet storms let off by 1500 but we were still using four to six minutes right wind for hits at 380.

Eugene Econ
April 29, 2008
Boomershoot, or how I began to learn to REALLY shoot!
[Friday was probably the worst shooting conditions we have ever had for Boomershoot. The wind and rain at Boomershoot 2001 was bad too but not as cold as it was this year. Sunday was some of the best conditions.--Joe]

Food shortages and riots are occurring around the world and even toppled Haiti's government. In the U.S. wheat flour prices are double what they were a few months ago.

This is good news for farmers in a free market but the implications are profound. Food shortages are probably more destructive to the fabric of civil society than any other single factor. When people get hungry enough they will do almost anything.

A few years ago my brother told me the world reserve of wheat would last nearly a year even if all production were stopped immediately. Things have changed (from the previous link):

...there is now less wheat in grain bins than at any time since World War II -- only about enough to supply the world for four days.

Record oil prices, collapsing housing market, and now world wide food prices and shortages. These are interesting times we live in. Will it result in increased government involvement to "solve" the problems? Or will people realize that government interference in the free market causes the problems? Remember that for decades the Soviet Union tried to increase food production under their communistic form of government and failed. And during those same decades the U.S. with a mostly capitalistic economy was trying to reduce food production so prices would increase and they too failed.

I'm reminded of Milton Friedman quote:

Governments never learn. Only people learn.

Have people learned? When they are hungry will the remember the lessons? Or will they insist the lessons be repeated at the cost of millions or perhaps even billions of lives?

I received another wheelbarrow full of cash and notification from the Apex of the Triangle of Death that our National Parks may soon turn red with blood as shoot outs between visitors...

Sorry. I think I was channeling the VPC for a moment there. Here is the real story:

The U.S. Department of Interior (DOI), through the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, today issued a proposed rule to amend regulations prohibiting firearms in National Parks and Wildlife Refuges. The National Rifle Association (NRA) led the effort to amend the existing policy regarding the carrying and transportation of firearms on these federal lands.

“Law-abiding citizens should not be prohibited from protecting themselves and their families while enjoying America's National Parks and wildlife refuges,” said Chris W. Cox, NRA chief lobbyist. “Under this proposal, federal parks and wildlife refuges will mirror the state firearm laws for state parks. This is an important step in the right direction, and we applaud efforts to amend the out-of-date regulations.”

APRIL 27 IS COMING

LOW-FLOW-TOILET DETONATION UPDATE

You might want to leave some comments--especially if you were there and did that.

Two Savage 12F/TR rifles, .308	$2400
Two Nightforce benchrest scopes	$2600
1000 rounds .308 Match	$1300
Plane tickets to Idaho	$600
Hotel room in Orofino, Idaho	$300
Rental SUV	$400
Two days of expert instruction	$140
Boomershoot entry fees	$200
Shooting explosive targets from 600 yards away	Priceless!

Matthew@triggerfinger.org
April 28, 2008
Boomershoot

The most important ways in which I think the internet will affect the big issue is that it will make it more difficult for the government to collect taxes.

Milton Friedman
[I have to think on this some more. Are there some opportunities I'm not taking advantage of? I want to believe Friedman but I don't see the Internet as that big of obstacle to tax collection.--Joe]

I'm Johnny Boomer Seed right now.

Ry Jones
About 10:00 AM April 27, 2008 at Boomershoot.
[When asked if he wanted some rubber bands to attach the reactive targets to the stakes. Ry was improving the process by specializing in one activity.--Joe]

Dave Barry owes us.

Ry Jones
About 1:30 PM April 27, 2008 at Boomershoot.
[After we had put out a fire caused by blowing up at toilet "in Barry's honor" and we both got hurt doing it.--Joe]

I'm an unindicted co-conspirator.

Ry Jones
About 2:30 PM April 27, 2008 at Boomershoot.
[When I introducted him to a friend as a contributor to Boomershoot.--Joe]

It was a white Boomershoot yesterday. From inside our shelter my staff and I mostly thought it was funny. Precision Rifle Clinic instructors and participants had a different opinion from on top of the windy grassy knoll.

 

 

 

 

The sun came out at lunch time.

As we were going back to work after lunch a wall of snow came in. That isn't fog, that is snow.

 

We have never felt so honored.

Dave Barry
From his blog post on our plans to blow up a toilet in his honor at Boomershoot tomorrow.
April 25, 2008

So says the Newtster, pretty well verifying what I've suspected for a long time-- that Gingrich either never really got it, or he’s just tired of the fight and wants the DC culture to be nice to him once in a while.

Others have tried to get this across, so it's old news, but I'll give it another go:  As one who upholds the founding principles of the U.S., I could not give a rat's behind if someone running for office is a black, white, Asian, Hispanic, one-armed female homosexual midget named Butch Hussein Ahmadinejad.  If that person has a track record of strenuously upholding and defending the founding principles of this country, she has my vote.  I do not care about personality (except she has to be a confident fighter or nothing's going to improve).  I do not care about looks, I don't care about slick marketing or any of that BS.  She's got my vote.  This is why Reagan won two landslides- he tried to uphold the founding principles of this country.  He understood and embraced those principles and (and this is key) he was therefore capable of articulating them.  He was far from perfect, but he did it better than any president in my lifetime, even with a solid Democrat majority in both Houses, and that's why he was popular.  It's also why he was, and is, so hated and maligned by the Left (clue: You cannot embrace America’s founding principles and expect to get along with the Left.  They will never, ever tolerate you, so if you're going to do it, expect to be attacked ruthlessly.  Ruthless attacks, however, can go both ways).

If you think it is a matter of hero worship, or cult of personality, etc., you are not capable of understanding Reagan's success.

Therefore, to say that the era of Reagan is over is to say that the era of upholding America's founding principles is over-- that we are to abandon our principles in favor of "getting along" with those who would further undermine them.  No, Little Grasshopper-- let them feel they must strive to "get along" with us in order to stay in the game.  It's a choice.

Now we have three conservative-hating, anti-Constitution leftists remaining in the presidential race-- two calling themselves Democrats and one calling himself a Republican, so this election no longer interests me.

To anyone else who wants my vote; it's really easy-- Just show the track record stated above.   For now, I will vote on state and local issues. (Yeah, I know-- I could vote for Paul, but...)

Yesterday Scott, Kim, Gene, Monte and I prepped the Boomershoot site for the Precision Rifle Clinic which takes place today and tomorrow. It was nice in the morning then at lunch time it started snowing. It just barely stuck on the grass and you can see a bit of it in some of the pictures below.

As I write this at a little at 7:00 AM it's snowing as well. The current temperature is 31F. Shooters Bob and Mike spent the night in a tent on site last night. I hope they brought winter gear.

The weather forecast is for warming weather as we go through the weekend with Sunday reaching the low 70s.

Part of the shooting line.

Kim in the sheltered work area for target construction.

Monte and Gene prepping steel for placement on the hillside.

Gene and Scott about to place steel at the 700 yard line.

Has Al Gore been in the area?

Scott Keszler
April 24, 2008
[After seeing the snow on the Boomershoot hillside.--Joe]

Taken at 9:00 AM April 24, 2008.

This is the point where I leap off into total consumption by Boomershoot for several days.

I printed the badges last night.

Today a couple staff members and I will prepare the shooting line, prepare for the Precision Rifle Clinic, and prepare the Taj Mahal to be an assembly line for making explosives and targets.

Tomorrow more staff shows up and we crank out hundreds of reactive targets as Eugene and staff conduct the rifle clinic.

Saturday is more target construction, another day of the clinic, and the Boomershoot dinner (Boomershoot spectators are welcome and get a free In Search of the Second Amendment DVD).

Sunday is the big day with my staff arriving early to place 1400 (if everything goes well) targets in the field. Another 180 targets will have been consumed during the clinic.

Interesting--I just realized that the Precision Rifle Clinic alone will consume as many targets that the first two Boomershoots in '98 and '99 combined.

The weather is looking great. A chance of a few showers (and maybe some snow) tonight but the days should be pretty good with it warming up on Saturday and Sunday. Some forecasts are even saying it will be in the low 70's on Sunday. The wind forecast is for 4 MPH winds on Sunday. It's looking very good indeed!

In other news there have been a number of people cancel at the last minute. Most notable are the guy from England and media representative Brian Doherty. There are now five positions available.

Blogging will be light until this is over.

Other commentators have likewise observed that "gun control is an essential precondition for genocide." Jay Simkin, Aaron Zelman, and Alan M. Rice, Lethal Laws 9-12 (Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership: 1995). Children are as much the victims of genocide as adults, and a right to bear arms protects both against that horrendous evil. Armed citizens are less likely to submit to removal and murder of their children, and their dictators are less likely to try.

Andrew L. Schlafly
February 7, 2008
Brief for amicus curiae association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Inc. in support of Respondent.
[I'm consumed by Boomershoot from now until Monday. I didn't have any unused quotes from previous Boomershoots but this is Why Boomershoot.--Joe]

Someone at a school in Pennsylvania wants to know how to make a pipe bomb.

I've got tons of things to do for work and I've got Boomershoot stuff to work on too. I talked to the Greensboro Police yesterday and the FBI this morning about the guy from yesterday.

If someone cares enough and/or thinks its serious enough to contact the school or whoever and they need my help then fine, but for the most part I don't have time for this crap right now.

Domain Name		neumann.edu ? (Educational)
IP Address		209.213.220.# (Abington School District)
ISP		Yipes Communications
Location		Continent  :  North America Country  :  United States  (Facts) State  :  Pennsylvania City  :  Abington Lat/Long  :  40.1239, -75.1264 (Map) Distance  :  2,123 miles
Language		English (U.S.) en-us
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Search Words		make a pipe bomb
Visit Entry Page		http://blog.joehuffman.org/2006/12/07/ImABombmakingExpert.aspx
Visit Exit Page		http://blog.joehuffman.org/2006/12/07/ImABombmakingExpert.aspx
Out Click
Time Zone		UTC-5:00
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9 people killed in 36 shootings over the weekend in Chicago:

Nine people were killed in 36 shootings over the weekend in Chicago, reflecting what some community leaders say is a deadly breakdown in discipline among gang members after a crackdown over the past few years put many of their leaders behind bars.

[...]

The shootings included drive-by attacks, and one case in which someone shot up a plumbing supply store with an AK-47. At least 14 of the shootings were gang-related, according to police. As for the rest, the only thing they can say for sure is that three had nothing to do with gangs.

[...]

Around the country, a number of cities, including Boston, New York, Los Angeles and Dallas, are not reporting surges in gang violence.

So, Mayor Daley, how is that handgun ban working out for you?

You would think the lessons of alcohol prohibition would not have to be retaught for recreation drug and gun prohibition. But for some reason that isn't the case and Chicago appears to be the natural epicenter of demonstrating this lesson. What seems so odd to me is that it is taking so much longer to learn the lesson this time. I guess people in Chicago are just slow learners.

Much like rock 'n' roll, school shootings were invented by the black man and stolen by the whites.

Chris Rock
[I don't know if there is any truth to this or not but I still think it is funny. Another thing for whites to feel guilty about.--Joe]

Wrong search terms, wrong location, on the wrong website, with a webmaster that watches his log files. I'm filling out the police report now.

Greensboro is just 90 miles from Chesterfield (have you sees the news lately?):

Domain Name		(Unknown)
IP Address		216.79.193.# (BellSouth.net)
ISP		BellSouth.net
Location		Continent  :  North America Country  :  United States  (Facts) State  :  North Carolina City  :  Greensboro Lat/Long  :  36.0844, -79.8209 (Map) Distance  :  2,038 miles
Language		English (U.S.) en-us
Operating System		Microsoft WinXP
Browser		Internet Explorer 6.0 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.30; InfoPath.2; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.648)
Javascript		version 1.3
Monitor		Resolution  :  1024 x 768 Color Depth  :  16 bits
Time of Visit		Apr 22 2008 10:34:38 am
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Visit Length		15 seconds
Page Views		1
Referring URL		http://www.google.co...w to bomb a building
Search Engine		google.com
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Visit Entry Page		http://blog.joehuffm...ombBuildingHelp.aspx
Visit Exit Page		http://blog.joehuffm...ombBuildingHelp.aspx
Out Click		http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=how to make a small bomb http://www.google.co...to make a small bomb
Time Zone		UTC-5:00
Visitor's Time		Apr 22 2008 1:34:38 pm
Visit Number		288,609

Our neighbours are so snobby - they call us the 'Shameless' family and say that we ought to go out to work. But how can we work when we have all these children to look after?

Sue McFadden
March 2008
Grandmother in a family where not one member has worked in three generations.
Raised on welfare, the 'Why Bother?' generation that doesn't want to work
[H/T to Ben Cunningham and Say Uncle. My answer to her question would be that no one would eat if they didn't work and the problem of "all these children" would be solved. Either they would never have been born or they would be adopted by someone who was able to feed them.

My personal experience with welfare recipients is congruent with the article. Most people accepting handouts do so because of the choices they made and continue to make. They become experts in the field of public assistance.--Joe]

People who use Earthlink for their e-mail must have a very different impression of human behavior, because no one ever responds to their e-mail inquiries.  Every time I get an on-line order from an Earthlink user, our auto reply e-mail gets bounced, as we get the following message:

"I apologize for this automatic reply to your email. To control spam, I now allow incoming messages only from senders I have approved beforehand."

Usually followed by a hand-typed e-mail a day later-- some variation of;

"I placed an order from you guys the other day, but I never got a confirmation, so I reordered, and still got no confirmation.  What's wrong with you guys?  Please respond!!!!  Hello!!!????"

The world is a very impolite place for Earthlink users.  No one ever writes back.  I wonder if they ever wonder why.

Update:  We got two of these responses today.  Our only option is to use the old-fashioned telephone, assuming we get a phone number.  I've thought about writing a series of essays on communication skills.

I call it the premier Long Distance Precision Rifle Event in the PacNW.

Phil of Random Nuclear Strikes
Things are looking up.
April 21, 2008
[Phil was referring to Boomershoot.--Joe]

Caleb and I visited the Boomershoot site today. The two pictures below are the view that greeted us as we arrived. There was a dusting of snow on the north slopes with some drifts still remaining in the deepest shadows. The road into the parking area was completely dry.

Target area and 50 Caliber Ghetto Shooting area.

The road into the parking area.

The grass in the shooting area was surprisingly dry and firm. It wasn't at all muddy. But it was cold. At noon it was 30F. By the time we left at about 17:30 it had warmed up to 39F. In between there was alternate periods of sun and snow. This schizophrenic weather is exemplified by the following two pictures of the same area. The first was taken at 11:26 and the second one at 17:11. Notice the snow in the first picture is completely gone by the time the second picture was taken less than six hours later.

The Taj Mahal and work area at 11:26.

Work area at 17:11.

As I mentioned earlier the shooting area was surprisingly good. The ground was damp but very firm. Unless there are major rain storms between now and next weekend the ground should be fine. The weather forecasts are varied but none predict heavy precipitation. I do not think it will be muddy unless it rains during the event.

The area just behind the shooting berm.

Snow was coming down at various times during the day.

There were three major accomplishments today.

1. We delivered the surveyors stakes and the last of the boxes used for targets.
2. We got the WiFi working well. While at the most remote location I set my computer up to ping the Boomershoot.org server and it ran for several hours and lost only 2% of the packets with no extended drop outs. This sort of accomplishment was unheard of previously.
3. We have about 1000 of boxes for the 1590 planned targets folded (they are shipped to us flat) and in crates ready for filling with explosives.

The magazine is nearly full of empty target boxes.

The Taj Mahal prepped for Boomershoot 2008.

Update: I forgot to mention that AT&T has cell phone service at the Boomershoot site now. Coverage is a little spotty behind neighboring hills and such but at the site itself the signal is fairly strong.

Obama’s eight years on the board of the Joyce Foundation, which paid him more than $70,000 in directors fees, do not in any way conflict with his campaign-trail support for the rights of gun owners.

Ben LaBolt
April 2008
Obama linked to gun control efforts
Spokesman for Obama’s presidential campaign in a statement issued to Politico this week.
[I say Wayne LaPierre's years as the Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the NRA would not in any way conflict with support of a national ban on handguns. And David Duke's time as a Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and his founding of the National Association for the Advancement of White People do not in any way conflict with his support for the rights of blacks.

I can only think of two alternatives:

1. LaBolt thinks people will believe this even though he knows it isn't true
2. LaBolt believes this himself

Either way he has crap for brains.--Joe]

After our second child, Kim, was born I figured that was enough. One boy, one girl. Isn't that enough? Barb wasn't convinced and ultimately convinced me another child was a good idea. "We're both smart", she said. "And we make enough money to raise and educate our children well. Think of it as our gift to the world." What can you say to something like that?

So Xenia is our gift to the world. A few days after Xenia was born I got a vasectomy and a number of years after that Barb had a hysterectomy. Xenia was our last gift of that type to the world.

The other day Xenia told Krystal (some random person Xenia knows) that our youngest child was our gift to the world.

Krystal: "What's the return policy?"

Kim: "You can't return clearance items."

Xenia: "It was a closeout sale on Mom's uterus. Everything must go."

Today I picked up the last of the supplies for Boomershoot 2008. 1200 surveyors stakes, 100 pounds of lime, and three air-horn cartridges. When I was getting the stakes the guy behind the counter asked, "Are you going vampire hunting?" I wish I had been quick enough to answer something like, "Not exactly. I'm the regional supplier for Buffy." But instead I told him the truth. "No. I'm going put cardboard boxes filled with high explosives on them and people will shoot at them." I'm not sure if he thought that story was any more plausible than the vampire one but he didn't question me further.

As a side note, 1200 stakes isn't enough for Boomershoot 2008. We have some left over from last year that we will be using.

Son James and I tried to go to Moscow, Idaho last night. It was snowing in the Seattle area and eastbound Snoqualmie pass was closed due to car accidents cause by slick roads. We looked at the pass reports and Stevens pass looked good. Assuming light traffic and good roads it's an hour longer but at least it wasn't closed and the road was bare. Maybe we could drive faster than the storm and make it to the pass before the storm did.

We took off and the traffic in the Seattle area was heavy and it became stop and go as we neared Monroe. By the time we got to within about 10 miles of Stevens pass the road had a couple inches of snow and was very, very slick. Stop and go traffic on a incline halted our progress and we had to turn around and come back into the Seattle area. We are going to try again today. The backyard of my bunker has snow on the ground this morning. Mid-April snow at less that 500 feet above sea level in the Seattle area? There can only be one explanation: Al Gore was right, it has to be Global Warming Climate Change.

Just north of Kirkland.

Just north of Woodinville.

Update: We made it home via Snoqualmie Pass without incident, arriving about 12:20 PM. The above post was written, but I was unable to post it, about 6:45 AM.

Drugs are bad. M'k?

James Huffman-Scott
April 18, 2008
[This was after I had a minor medical procedure, was not allowed to drive for 12 hours because of the drugs they gave me, and could not remember certain things later in the day. I thought I was feeling fairly well at the time. I can remember things that happened before the incident. I can remember things that happened just after the incident. But I cannot remember the event in question.--Joe]

The WA/BC border is one of the most significant entry pts for terrorist that our country has, as well as for illegal materials.

Canada is a significant staging ground for terrorists of all brands.

Besides building their own networks, all type of terrorists will use smuggling routes and the in-place smugglers themselves, to move people and materials.

[...]

As the masses sleep, we and our allies have prevented quite a few attacks bigger than Sept11. and probably hundreds of small ones. We CAN't talk about them because doing so means the "journalists" and lawyers, etc. will know HOW we stopped the attacks and that tool will no longer be available. The only way to keep the evolutionary cycle in our favor is Operational Security of our techniques.

Greg Hamilton
March 24, 2008 2:48 PM
Insights Training Discussion Group
[It's an interesting dilemma. And it goes much further than what is obvious at first glance. If you were to arrest and prosecute them then only the first one or two attempts would be unsuccessful. The methods of detection would come out in the trial(s) making it much more likely subsequent attempts would work. So what can you do? Put a sack over their head and ship them Club Gitmo on a military plane in the middle of the night? Put a bullet in their head and feed them to the sharks and crabs? But what about due process? Yeah, they are terrorists. But what if President Obama declares the NRA to be a terrorist network? Do NRA members then get the same treatment?--Joe]

Xenia's boyfriend, John, pointed out to me the MP3s of debate on the recent New York gun bans. I mentioned the .50 caliber ban in my QOTD the other day.

From reading the bill one would assume they were totally ignorant of guns. But as I listened to the debate I found they carefully and accurately informed the sponser and others that rifled shotguns would be covered by this poorly written bill. The sponsor said it wouldn't. When pushed on this the sponsor changed the subject. When asked "How many crimes were committed with .50 caliber rifles?" And again she repeatedly changed the subject. The truth does not matter to these bigots.

Listen for yourself.

Most of the energy of political work is devoted to correcting the effects of mismanagement of government.

Milton Friedman
[I'm tempted to claim that the statement would be more accurate if "mismanagement of" were removed from the above statement. However, my respect for Mr. Friedman is such that I am hesitant to make that claim without his concurrence.--Joe]

The other day I posted about the number of school shooting incidents before and since the law making schools "gun free zones". A commentor wanted references so they could use the stats in a paper they were writing. I wrote to Jeff Knox at Firearms Coalition asking if he could share the references with me and he responded with the following:

Joe,
Those statistics were compiled by my sister Shan.  Here is how she answers the question:
Our article was about the impact of the gun-free school zones, so death tolls are
limited to that criteria.  There was an error in the stats - it should have been 14 prior to
1990 and 79 post 1990 (80, now)  - I accidentally messed up on the numbers.  There were two
shootings at "Cleveland Elementary School" in California - one in Stockton, one in San Diego. 
I must have knocked one out, thinking I was duplicating it, so the before figure should have been 13,
but in researching this today, I came across another one that wasn't included in our original findings,
so the actual pre-1990 figure was 14. 
 
The post-1990 figure should have been 79 - there was a shooting in DC which wasn't included -
I don't know why.  The killer was acquitted of murder, so maybe it wasn't showing up as a
homicide in the FBI stats.  There has been one additional fatal school shooting at a Washington
State HS since our report, bringing the total to 80.
 
Since the Crime Control Act of 1990, There have been a total of 80 gun homicides
in school shootings perpetrated by killers who illegally carried firearms onto
elementary or secondary school grounds, or fired onto school grounds,in violation of
the 1990 law.  The number is actually higher - there have been several firearms suicides
comitted in schools, but we only counted suicides concurrent with homicidal school shootings. 
Those weren't included in the FBI report we looked at, but they should rightly be included,
since they still spotlight the gun-free zone" fallacy. 
 
There's what appears to be a complete list - which includes the suicides and a lot of other info, at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school-related_attacks and also at
http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/crime/school_violence/school_shootings.html
 
There have been additional people killed on college campuses and post-
secondary institutions during that time, but those places weren't included in our figures,
because they weren't included in the gun-free school zones provisions.
 
There have also been many, many more people wounded, or killed by other types of weapons.
 
I was using the FBI uniform Crime Reports, but there's a pretty
full list on wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_shooting  For some reason,
it doesn't include Laurie Dann, or details of Oakland Elementary, and a few others
which I'll list later.

Shootings in elementary and secondary schools in the US prior to 1990 - 
 
Cleveland Elementary San Diego, California, January 29, 1979  (2 killed)
Parkway south JH, Saint Louis, MO  Jan.20, 1983  (2 killed)
Goddard Junior high , Goddard, KS  Jan. 21, 1985: ( 1 killed)
Hubbard Woods School  (Laurie Dann) Winnetka, IL  May, 20, 1988 (1 killed)
Oakland Elementary - Greenwood, SC - Sept 26, 1988 (2 killed)
Cleveland Elementary Stockton, California, January 17, 1989 (6 killed)
 
For post-1990, the list is too long to type, but  the Wikipedia link -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_shooting  - has a list of
most US shootings, but also includes post-secondary schools.  It did not include
the fatalities for East Carter High ,  Grayson, Kentucky, 1993 (2)
 
It also did not include:
Wauwatosa West High School  December 1, 1993 Wisconsin (1)
Fayetteville, Tennessee, May 19, 1998 (1)
Lew Wallace High School Gary, IN, Mar 30, 2001 (1)
Lake Worth Middle School , Lake Worth, FL  May 26, 2000 (1)
Ballou Senior High School.  Wash, DC, Feb. 2, 2004 (1)
Henry Foss High School Tacoma, Washington, January 3, 2007 (1)
 
Hope this helps!
Shan

The 50-caliber weapon is one of the most dangerous weapons in the U.S. military's arsenal.

New York State Assembly
BILL NO A02772A
[As they have defined 50-caliber weapons this wasn't true even 200 years ago, long before AC-130s, B-52s, cruise missiles, ICBMs, and tactical nukes. I can't imagine what alternate reality these people live in. I can only conclude they have mental problems. How did these mental cases get elected to office? Are the majority of people in New York State suffering from some sort of mass delusion?--Joe]

It's a start. Now she should get the Feds to arrest the city council and mayor on charges of violating 18 USC 241 and/or 242:

Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham says the city's newly enacted gun control laws are unconstitutional.

From my Bomb Help email folder:

From: Peter 
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 7:47 AM
To: joeh@boomershoot.org
Subject: let make thing happen

 

Hello...

My name is peter and i am really sad because the mothers in my hood simple told thier daughters to stay away from me because i am too bad a science and i may use their daughter for lab. experiment so i want you to help me do some thing really loud to disturb the peaceful sleep of the hood and blow up some cars that they never ride.....i like bombs from watchs and home appliances but let the procedure be simple so i will never get confused durung the process for safety

reasons.......http://www.boomershoot.org

Cheers

Peter...

  between 0000-00-00 and 9999-99-99

I wouldn't even consider him for suicide bomber mission:

From: Joe Huffman
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 10:16 AM
To: 'Peter'
Subject: RE: let make thing happen

 

If you are easily confused and bad at science then you sound like you are far too stupid to be let anywhere close to explosives.

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Last night I talked to a couple people that live within two miles of the Boomershoot site. They said that over the last few days the temperature got up to 70F and the wind was blowing. The snow just disappeared and the ground dried out enough that a few farmers were out in their fields on Sunday.

Then there was a 40 degree drop in temperature between Sunday and Monday and it snowed.

The weather and conditions for Boomershoot still could be anything. Current forecasts for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of the event are for cloudy, rain, and rainy. I have no idea what the difference is between "rain" and "rainy" but that is what the website says.

I won't have much faith in the forecasts until we get within about three or four days of the event. In the mean time participants should be prepared for any type of weather except tornadoes (extremely rare but not unheard of in this part of the country) and hurricanes.

Chris Cox of the NRA has this to say:

“Today’s announcement by New York City (NYC) Mayor Mike Bloomberg comes as no surprise to National Rifle Association (NRA) members across the country. None of these joint Wal-Mart/Mayor Bloomberg initiatives will lower crime, because they ignore the real cause of crime -- criminals.

Mayor Bloomberg has long confused his NYC mayoral podium for a national bully pulpit from which he feels entitled to push his personal gun control agenda outside NYC. Now, instead of trying to impose his philosophy on other cities and states, Mike Bloomberg has set his sights on our country’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Bloomberg proves his disdain for individual firearm ownership, and his assertion that only the privileged should own a firearm and should have the right to defend themselves and their loved ones.

NRA will continue to oppose any scheme that puts burdens on law-abiding Americans and not on criminals.”

Sebastian is pretty pissed but counsels restraint when writing your letters to corporate headquarters.

Here is what really got to me:

Creating a record and alert system to record when a gun sold at Wal-Mart is later used in a crime. If the purchaser of that gun later tries to buy another gun at Wal-Mart, the system would alert the sales clerk of the prior buy and could refuse to make the sale.

Retaining the recorded images of gun sales in case law enforcement wants to view them later as part of an investigation.

Have they ever heard of "due process"? The RKBA is about to be declared, by the highest court in the land, as an individual right guaranteed to not be infringed. And yet if I bought a gun at Wal-Mart and someone stole that gun from me and used it in a crime Wal-Mart would hold that against me if I tried to buy another gun. Why stop there? Why not do the same for knives and baseball bats?

How about flashlights? I'm sure burglars need flashlights when they are sneaking around someone's house in the middle of the night. What if Bloomberg put pressure on Wal-Mart to keep flashlights out of the wrong hands? Would Wal-Mart cave to him about that? Or would they offer to insert their finest four D-cell flashlight someplace where it would help him find his way out of his cranial rectum inversion problem?

What would happen if some KKK member in political power put pressure on Wal-Mart to "retain the recorded images" of blacks/Jews/Gays that made purchases "in case law enforcement wants to view them later as part of an investigation"? This is no different. Guns are just as legal to sell and own as claw hammers, baseball bats, and kitchen knives. For Wal-Mart to single out gun buyers as a special class of people worthy of extra scrutiny and suspicion is deplorable. They are supporting the oppressors of essential freedoms and should be treated the same as those that would collaborate with the KKK.

Wal-Mart management would do well to remember K-MART.

The messed up thing about taxes is you don’t ‘pay’ taxes. The government TAKES them. You get your check and money is GONE! It was not an option! That ain’t a payment, that’s a JACK! I been TAX JACKED!…[The] worst part about it, we pay taxes for [stuff] we don’t even use….Why are black people paying Social Security? I won’t get the money till I’m 65….Meanwhile, the average black man dies at 54. Hypertension, high blood pressure, police….I used to work at McDonald’s making minimum wage….I would get $200 a week and they would take out $50 in taxes. That’s a lot of money if you only making $200….What do you get with that $50? All the free street light in the world. As far as I am concerned, give everybody a candle. Just give me back my $50.

Chris Rock
Via Tempus Fugit
[Even after having my employer take out an extra $600 a month for all of last year we found out yesterday we need to pay several thousand more today. Our accountant said, "Please don't shoot the messenger." Barb is pissed at the government. And I'm thinking, "Just wait until they pay off everyone else's mortgages and our health care is free."--Joe]

After having taught many people to shoot, I've found a universal challenge (in addition to the well-known and documented challenges): It seems that most people have a hard time grasping the idea of charging a semi-auto pistol or rifle.  There is a tendency to want to ease the charging handle (or slide) forward, rather than pulling it all the way back and letting go, so it can fly forward under its own spring tension as should be done.  We demonstrate the technique, and explain why it should be done that way-- the gun operates this way every time it's fired, and it's necessary to let this happen when charging it by hand, so as to ensure a solid lockup of the mechanism prior to firing, and in some cases, to avoid having your fingers bitten by the mechanism.

Still, while doing a team-teaching session this weekend in NRA Basic Pistol, we had a guy cut his finger while charging a MK II pistol.  "It will bite you" I tell them now, "if you don't let go of the slide.  Just let it fly forward."  In my next class it will be an objective to see to it that this doesn't happen again.

It was a very rewarding day, and all the students came away from it satisfied that they had acquired a good basic understanding of the safety principles, of pistols, and of pistol shooting.  The fact that it was a twelve-hour ordeal came to my mind only afterward.  For those who would like the rewarding experience of teaching people to shoot, using proven, time-tested methods, see Joe's post here or contact the NRA about instructor training classes being held near you.

I'm not surprised by this. They know that its bad politics to be on the wrong side of the gun issue. The political graveyard is full of gun control supporters and they are trying to avoid the same fate.

Chris Cox
April 13, 2008
NRA Lobbyist: Despite New Rhetoric, Clinton's "Name is Synonymous With Gun Control, Like Rosie O'Donnell"
[Say Uncle has a good take on the same topic.--Joe]

Reading the "Gun Guys" about "one gun a month" legislation I was reminded of something Alan Gottlieb once told me. The real issue is not the restriction of "one gun a month" but that the only way it can be enforced is if you have gun registration. The anti-gun bigots use the relatively benign sounding "one gun a month" proposal as a back door for the much more onerous and ominous universal gun registration.

This insight never seems to be brought up. I think there is a "Just One Question" response to the "one gun a month" proposals that will help flush these bigots out into the open:

How do you propose to enforce one gun a month?

I was cleaning up my desk and ran across an old Hard Corps Report from September/October 2007. In a little box in an article entitled Disarmed in "Gun-Free School Zone" was the following tidbit of information:

The Aftermath of Gun-Free School Zones
created by the 1990 Crime Control Act

	Years	Incidents
1776-1990	214	7
1990-2007	17	78

Repeal this terrible law. Do it for the children.

This study raises more questions than it give answers. I'm not disputing the results. In fact I have reason to believe it is accurate. But what could possibly be the clues that reveals such details about sexual intent?

Looking for love or lust? Your face gives it away Facial features tell if someone wants commitment or casual sex, study says

It’s no use being coy. If you’re looking for a fling, it might just be written all over your face.

A new study by U.K. researchers found that you can tell just by looking at someone’s face whether they’re interested in casual sex or long-term commitment. And, not surprisingly, women tend to be more attracted to the guys who look like true boyfriend material, while men are drawn to faces that seem to say “one-night stand,” found the study, published Tuesday in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.

In a similar vein two different lesbian friends of mine claimed they have excellent "Gaydar". Some simple tests indicate that in fact they were able to determine sexual orientation with very little contact with the people in question. This including their laughing at me when asked if I was gay. Apparently I am so blatantly heterosexual that I couldn't fool anyone even if I wanted to.

Other experiences of mine, which would take too much time to explain, resulted in similar results.

Charlton Heston was a good and decent man, as well as a fine actor and a brave one, who did his own stunts.

Some people can't work out how the same person courageously went on civil rights demonstrations long before it was fashionable, and equally courageously opposed the authoritarian, futile silliness of 'gun control' when that cause wasn't fashionable either.

The two things are completely linked. Both are causes of liberty and justice, and both got him into trouble with received opinion.

Gun control, much imposed by dictatorships, restricts gun ownership to the State, to criminals and (in this country) certain officially approved terrorists.

It bans law-abiding people from defending themselves, even where the State is not doing its job.

Peter Hitchens
April 12, 2008
The week they sowed the seeds of a British secret police
[Some people in the U.K. get it.--Joe]

The details for the Boomershoot Dinner have been finalized. Please see the details and sign up here.

There is a discount if you RSVP early so do it soon. There is very little time left.

There will also be a raffle to benefit Project Valour-IT of Soldiers Angels. You don't need to attend the dinner to participate in the raffle. Please go to the above link to read the details. We are also asking for donations to raffle off. Please contribute to this very worthy cause.

We are only 15 days from the big event and weather forecasts are starting to have some validity. I was on site last Sunday and there was still a lot of snow and mud. Since then we have had some more snow as well as a few days of warm weather. I doubt it has dried out much.

Looking out two weeks is subject to a lot of error but currently the forecast for April 24, 25, 26 (Thursday->Saturday) is, respectfully, for rain, snow, and mostly cloudy with showers. Prior to that there is supposed to be a fair amount of cloudy weather mixed with some sun. I'll visit the site next weekend and will know more but my guess is that we are going to have some mud and perhaps even snow drifts to deal with. This will affect the Boomershoot staff more than the shooters but spectators and shooters should make appropriate plans.

Position 18 has opened up. If you know someone who would like to participate and has not signed up please send them here.

It's not prostitution. It's nuptial gifts.

We are just animals with a more developed brain. The low level wiring isn't all that much different.

Just like penguins and other primates, people trade sex for resources:

Female penguins mate with males who bring them pebbles to build egg nests. Hummingbirds mate to gain access to the most productive flowers guarded by larger males.

New research shows that even affluent college students who don't need resources will still attempt to trade sexual currency for provisions, said Daniel Kruger, research scientist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

The exchange of resources for sex---referred to by scientists as nuptial gifts---has occurred throughout history in many species, including humans, Kruger said. The male of the species offers protection and resources to the female and offspring in exchange for reproductive rights. For example, an arranged marriage can be considered a contract to trade resources.

However, the recent findings suggest that such behaviors are hard wired, and persist no matter how much wealth, resources or security that people obtain.

"It's remarkable to find these patterns in the students in the study," Kruger said. "We have seen many examples where people do this out of necessity, but we still see these tendencies in people who are already well provided for."

I think Barb said she wanted some chores done around the house. Would that be considered an exchange of services?

The city is earning the nickname ‘Killadelphia’ not because of state preemption but because the mayor and city council think punishing law-abiding gun owners will somehow cause criminals to stop killing one another. Does he seriously think limiting legal handgun sales to one a month will prevent drive-by shootings by recidivist gang bangers? Can he honestly believe that penalizing someone for not immediately reporting a stolen firearm will prevent the thief from selling that gun to someone else who uses it in a crime? Where does he get the notion that restricting the rights of honest citizens is going to fix the broken court system that repeatedly returns these thugs to the streets?

None of these measures has worked anywhere else they've been tried. So what makes Nutter think he can perform a miracle now, especially in defiance of state law? Nutter is nuts, and so are the council members who copied these ideas out of the extremist gun control playbook for his rubber stamp signature.

Alan Gottlieb
Founder of the Second Amendment Foundation.
April 11, 2008
SAF BLASTS ‘KILLADELPHIA’ MAYOR, COUNCIL OVER MEASURES DEFYING STATE LAW
[IMHO this should be immediately settled in the court system. Federal Prosecutors should have the mayor and all the city council members who voted for this arrested and charged with violation of 18 USC 242.--Joe]

The TSA should just give it up and let congress spend that money on something that would do some good.

Also note that in this video the morons interviewed think that somehow outlawing the "glass knuckles" will make society safer. Do they think banning sharp sticks will make society safer? These things are so easy to make anyone with a room temperature I.Q. could be taught how to make them. But then maybe the media morons and the people they interviewed should be given a pass because they don't have a room temperature I.Q.

It has just confirmed that Brian Doherty will be attending Boomershoot 2008. Here are the details:

Brian Doherty, author of the books Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern Libertarian Movement and This Is Burning Man: The Rise of a New American Underground, is writing a book about the current DC vs. Heller case and its ramifications. Doherty plans to attend Boomershoot, and, if anything at the event sparks his interest, he may include it in his upcoming book. Doherty is also Senior Editor of Reason magazine/Reason.com. His excellent video summary about DC vs. Heller can be viewed here, at reason.tv.

Also the Saturday night dinner planning committee has confirmed the guest speaker will be a representative from Nightforce.

Even if you do not plan on participating in Boomershoot on Sunday you are welcome attend the dinner. Sign up as a spectator by sending an email to spectators-subscribe@boomershoot.org to be notified of dinner and last minute weather details etc.

If you are interested in becoming an NRA certified instructor in Basic Pistol there will be a class in Lewiston, Idaho on April 24^th, 25^th, and 26^th. This is Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before Boomershoot. On Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning (the 26^th and 27^th) there will be a similar class to become an instructor for Personal Protection Inside the Home. You must have the credentials for Basic Pistol before you can take the Personal Protection Inside the Home class.

If you are interested in attending either class please let me know by tomorrow (Saturday the 12^th) morning. Cost is dependent on the number of participants but it will be something in the range of $100 to $150 per person per class. Call me (208-301-4254) or send an email if you have questions.

As long as there are sovereign nations possessing great power, war is inevitable.

Albert Einstein
[With all due respect to Einstein's insight into physics I must point out his insight into human nature and politics was lacking. We are currently at war not a sovereign nation but a group of religious fanatics that barely recognize national boundaries and have essentially zero in the way of "great power" as defined by modern military metrics. And war has existed, and still does, when the "nations" are nothing more than large tribes equipped with spears, bows, and arrows.

The lesson to be learned from this is that however brilliant someone is in one field of endeavor that is no indication of their ability to contribute in another area. One's reputation in any given area must be earned.--Joe]

Via John, Xenia's boyfriend in Iraq I received a link to this site. [Side note, it is John's birthday tomorrow and he is in Iraq away from his family and girlfriend working to keep us safe.]

It was like stepping through the looking glass into a fact free zone. Here are some examples:

The National Rifle Association in the United States of America has very few female members, but those that are members claim that guns empower them, protect them and give them more freedom in a country marked by the highest crime rate in the world.

"Very few"? I'll agree it's a minority but won't spend the effort on slapping them down other than to point out the NRA has had two women presidents, Sandra Froman and Marion Hammer and Tany Metaksa was the NRA's top lobbyist for a while.

Highest crime rate in the world? Not even close. Even England and Wales have higher crime rates than the US.

Actually much of the effort has been to keep guns and weapons that are considered "too dangerous" off the streets. Things like rocket launchers, grenades and other items usable by terrorists. Besides, who carries a grenade or an automatic sub-machinegun like a Mac 10 around for self-defense?

Shall we talk about handgun bans in Chicago, Washington D.C. (about to be thrown out), and San Francisco (thrown out)?

I have NEVER heard of any laws trying to prohibit shotguns, which is primarily a weapon for hunting deer, elk, bears.

Apparently they have never heard of NFA '34. And I've never heard of a shotgun being considered appropriate for elk.

Magazine clips that contain 10 bullets are more useful to people who carry automatic weapons (which are illegal in most states). You just hold down the trigger and the handgun keeps firing, a bit like a machine gun, which means the criminal in question has the ability to fire many rounds at a police officer quickly and easily, and is more likely to hit the target as a result. Thanks to the 10 bullet limit the person runs out of bullets a lot faster. Since that law has been in place officers in many American states have seen a dramatic drop in the death of police officers due to automatic weapons.

Ignoring the ignorance of saying "magazine clips"... The full auto versus semi-auto game has been played many times with the semi-auto shooter getting more bullets on target than the full-auto in nearly all circumstances. The last sentence is total fabrication. The DOJ study found no such benefits to the "Assault Weapon Ban".

The following is in regard the 10 round restriction for guns designed for full capacity magazines:

Those changes were only less reliable for people using automatic weapons. The new magazines were designed specifically to jam up frequently when used in an automatic gun.

Wow! This person is in total la-la land. There is no need to continue further until they start taking their Thorazine again.

Thanks John. Thanks for everything.

In defeat, unbeatable; in victory, unbearable.

Winston Churchill
Speaking of Montgomery.
[Barb and I got the History Channel series on Churchill on DVD via NetFlix and are in the middle of watching the part about WWII. Churchill did have a way with words. Not a lot of energy when he spoke but he certainly used his words well.--Joe]

You have a right to your own opinions, but you don't have a right to your own facts.

Anonymous
[I have found attributions to Churchill, read an instance where Bloomberg said that, and heard one radio personality attribute Daniel Moynihan. If someone has better results in finding the originator please let me know.

What I like about this quote is that it applies so well to many of the anti-gun bigots. Their sloppy thinking confuses opinions and facts in so many ways. A post demonstrating this is forthcoming.--Joe]

I wondered why I was getting so many hits from people using a search engine with the search terms "atf job description".

I investigated just a little bit and discovered if you use those search terms with Google, Live Search, or Ask my blog post is the number one listing. I don't think I know how to express how much that amuses me.

I just hope I can repress the urge to share my amusement with the next ATF inspector that visits me at the Taj Mahal.

Earlier today, Uncle demanded:

I’m here to ask you all to knock that shit off.

I'm here to defy his demands:

Domain Name		usdoj.gov ? (U.S. Government)
IP Address		149.101.1.# (US Dept of Justice)
ISP		US Dept of Justice
Location		Continent  :  North America Country  :  United States  (Facts) State  :  Virginia City  :  Arlington Lat/Long  :  38.8782, -77.1054 (Map) Distance  :  2,068 miles
Language		English (U.S.) en-us
Operating System		Microsoft WinXP
Browser		Internet Explorer 6.0 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; DOJ3jx7bf; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; InfoPath.1; .NET CLR 2.0.50727)
Javascript		version 1.3
Monitor		Resolution  :  1024 x 768 Color Depth  :  32 bits
Time of Visit		Apr 3 2008 12:14:52 pm
Last Page View		Apr 3 2008 12:15:08 pm
Visit Length		16 seconds
Page Views		2
Referring URL		http://www.google.co...e&btnG=Google Search
Search Engine		google.com
Search Words		always think forfeiture
Visit Entry Page		http://blog.joehuffman.org/2008/03/20/AlwaysThinkForfeiture.aspx
Visit Exit Page		http://blog.joehuffman.org/2008/03/20/AlwaysThinkForfeiture.aspx
Out Click
Time Zone		UTC-4:00
Visitor's Time		Apr 3 2008 4:14:52 pm
Visit Number		279,359

Okay, so I'm not going to get bent out of shape and claim the ATF black helicopters are about to touch down. I'm not really in defiance of the Great and Wonderful Uncle.

What I do want to do is point out that we got the ATF's attention when we pointed out their faux pas regarding Always Think Forfeiture. Whether they give the creator of that incentive tool a promotion and/or publicly flog someone is still up in the air. But you should note that we do have an effect on them. And every minute they spend deciding what to do about getting caught in the sheep pen with their pants around their ankles is less time they have to spend infringing the rights of the innocent. It will also be a very useful thing for our friends in congress to bring up during budget hearings with the ATF. Jed did good. Real good.

Thanks to Tony for the email.

I'm glad this survey was done with private money rather than taxpayer money. The results are just as one would expect:

The only nit I have to pick with this poll is that it is "Sarah Brady" not "Sara Brady". But I'm not in any position to criticize someone for their typos or spelling errors.

Update: Tony, being the consciences researcher that he is updated the image. If only the Brady Campaign and others of their ilk were so quick to correct their errors we wouldn't have to do it for them.

I thought everyone knew that self-defense was illegal in the U.K.

They should know they would get complaints if they came out with a product like this:

Gun control groups have condemned a new bullet-proof “hoody” which claims to protect against all bullets except those fired by high-velocity rifles.

Bladerunner, the London company which sells the £300 Defender hoodie, says it is responding to demand from undercover police officers and concerned parents.

Raymond Stevenson, a spokesman for Don’t Trigger, an international antigun campaign based in Brixton, London, said: “It’s not helping kids to provide them with bullet-proof armoury. and will encourage more aggressive behaviour.”

A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.

William James
[Look around. You will see it nearly everywhere.--Joe]

Ignore all the errors, the deceptive use of numbers, and the emotional appeals. There is one sentence that explains why they just don't get it:

America is a nation that pays a heavy price for permitting its citizens to be armed.

Our constitution does not permit its citizens to be armed.

Yup. You read that right. And that is not an late April fools joke either.

Until they understand and adhere to this fundamental point they will never understand or leave us alone. The reality is that the people had the right to be armed before the Constitution existed and the people retained, explicitly through the 2nd and 10th Amendments those rights afterward. The U.S. Constitution permitted, through Article I, Section 8, Clauses 15 and 16, the government to be armed.

I already posted the pictures from yesterday morning at the Boomershoot site. In the afternoon things were a little better. And if you compare to what things looked like two weeks ago they are significantly better:

The shooters berm. The deepest snow I could find was only ten inches deep.

The target area from the shooters berm.

The target construction area has significantly less snow than before.

This is the "Tree-Line" target area and where I get worried.

The weather forecast doesn't look terrible. But it is a long way from great as well. In the next 15 days only three days are forecast to have precipitation. And three days are forecast to reach a high of 70F (this is an Orofino forecast so subtract a couple degrees for the Boomershoot site). If the forecast is correct and then we get bright sun for the last week of the month it could be beautiful Boomershoot conditions.

But don't count on it.

In other news I completed what little bit had to be done on the water supply. As if we needed that this year! We might be able to wash our equipment in the nearest snow drift.

I brought a new inverter but the old one was behaving this time so I just left the new one wrapped up and left it there as a spare. We could swap it out in less than a minute so it's not a big deal if it dies while we are in the middle of building targets.

I spent most of my time trying to get the WiFi working. There were numerous things wrong with the access point at the shed and once I got all those fixed everything started working just fine. I made one final tweak, changing the router configuration to follow Daylight Savings Time and when the router rebooted there was no wireless signal. I walked back to the neighbors to get physical access to the router and the hardwired connection was just fine. It was just the wireless that was dead. I poked around in the configuration a little bit, and without ever changing anything the wireless started working again. I rebooted the router again and the wireless went away and I was unable to get to come back up again.

I was out of time and I concluded that it must be the external power amplifier being flaky. I would suspect the router but that is the third router I have put there with similar symptoms from all three. The power amp is the only thing left that can be causing the problem.

In other news I was surprised with a dog came into the shed while I was working on the WiFi. I poked my head out the door and found I had company:

Rhonda and my brother Doug came out while training their search dogs.
They were looking for a dead body (actually a training aid) Doug had buried last November.

These are their dogs.

We talked for 15 or 20 minutes and then we all went back to work.

Oh, one last thing. When I came home Friday night I found Caleb had left this Boomershoot 2008 accessory in the driveway:

Guess what (and who) this is for.

Robert Novak tells us of the tap dance Obama is doing with gun rights. I learned a couple things. I didn't know that he taught constitutional law for 10 years. And I didn't know this:

Obama's dance on gun rights is part of his evolution from a radical young state legislator a few years ago. He was recorded in a 1996 questionnaire as advocating a ban on the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns (a position since disavowed). He was on the board of the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation, which takes an aggressive gun control position, and in 2000 considered becoming its full-time president. In 2006, he voted with an 84 to 16 majority (and against Clinton) to prohibit confiscation of firearms during an emergency, but that is his only pro-gun vote in Springfield or Washington.

He was on the board of the Joyce Foundation and considered becoming its full-time president? And now he wants to be the President of the United States?

That's far worse than the fox guarding the hen house, giving an alcoholic the keys to the liquor store, or giving teenagers whiskey and the keys to a sports car. It is every bit as bad as giving a Democrat politician taxpayer money and power.

Now he has published a list:

In May of 2007, Rev. Michael Pfleger, Pastor of Chicago's St. Sabina's Catholic Church, shocked the nation when he called for the "snuffing" of legislators who vote against gun control bills.

Late last week, Pfleger raised the bar on this issue by publishing a list of members of the Illinois General Assembly who oppose his extremist position on gun control.  In light of his May 2007 diatribe, it must be presumed that the list identifies those legislators that Pfleger wants his followers to "snuff."

[...]

"It'll be interesting to see how brave Pfleger is when he has to come face to face with the lawmakers he's marked for murder," said Pearson.

Indeed.

It is less than three weeks until the big event. I visited the site yesterday to do some prep. I'll post more tonight but here are a couple pictures indicating the existing conditions and weather:

The road just to the north of the site.

The actual site. The hillside in the distance is the main target area. That is not fog in the air. It is snow.

As Illinois is one of the last two states to prohibit the carrying of concealed guns, it should be the first to proudly enact the law prohibiting the ownership and carrying of concealed knives.

Knife owners who are allowed to own them, must be required to carry KOID (Knife Owner Identification) licenses. To ensure knives are being sold to responsible owners, there should be a five-day waiting period for background checks.

Knife owners must attend mandatory knife training classes to ensure the proper use of knives and understand the potential harm caused by the unknowledgeable knife owner.

When transporting knives, owners must secure them in a secure case in the vehicle's trunk.

John K. Nolan
April 5, 2008
A cutting satire on gun control
[It's pretty good satire. It's not up to the VPC Blog level. But it's not bad. Of course the above fairly accurately describes the current situation in the U.K. so the satire aspect will probably be missed by some.--Joe]

It is evil, and we must defeat it.

Charlton Heston
1997
This quote was used in the "No on I-676" campaign. Initiative 676 was a gun registration and mandated training scheme.
[Heston died yesterday.

Yes, he was an actor but I don't pay much attention to actors. What I remember him for was his contribution to the rights of gun owners.

During the "No on I-676" campaign Heston and others from the NRA showed up and gave speeches all around the state. The Citizen Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms invested a lot of time and money into as well. And of course I and thousands of other gun owners in Washington state spent a lot of time and money working on this. We ended up sending it down in flames (71%-29%) and Heston probably did as much or more than almost anyone else to make that happen. It was such an overwhelming defeat the anti-gun bigots in Washington state (Washington Ceasefire) has not tried an initiative since then and even the legislature has been somewhat timid on guns since then.

I didn't meet Heston. I did meet and talked to Tanya Metaksa for quite a while on election night. I was probably in Idaho the weekend when Heston did his thing in the Seattle area. But I did buy the t-shirt (see below).--Joe]

I'd never heard of Jim Pontillo.  I found him through a link on Jewish World Review.  Liberalism's Tragic Soul is a long post, but there are a lot of very quotable statements in it:

...you are victim to the liberal propaganda which suggests CEOs are big all controlling evil despots who can set policy and control the population at their whim. CEOs in a truly capitalist society are the biggest slaves of the planet. They are enslaved to the whims of the market—to you and me.

That one reminds me of a good friend, who opened a retail store in a small village that had a two-store monopoly.  The two stores had been price-fixing for years.  My friend saw this monopoly, correctly, as an opportunity.  He did his homework and found out he could provide goods at vastly lower prices and still make a good profit.  So long as his property rights were protected against coercion and other forms of force, he could do a nice business and in the process he'd be giving every resident of this little village a raise, in effect, by lowering the prices on all the goods they needed.  He did just that, and has done very well for many years.  That's the value of a free market right there, in microcosm.  There can be no lasting, anti-consumer monopoly in a free market, since anyone taking undue advantage of the consumer is merely creating an opportunity for their competitors.  That is, unless government steps in and screws it all up.

The next time you get into an argument about freedom with a liberal, the freedom they profess to defend, the freedom that conservatives venture to usurp with their fascist beliefs, ask them what freedom they are talking about.  Is it the freedom to possess firearms to protect ourselves if government fails to, or the freedom to keep most of the money we earn, or the freedom to speak candidly about religion, or the freedom to provide the best for our families; or is it the freedom to hand our lives over to some elected official where he will decide what is best for us...

We believe that this domestic violence prevention strategy "should" be implemented. However, we recognize that it would be difficult to implement all these measures due to the clout of the gun lobby and subsequent lack of political will and resources.

In lieu of this, GunGuys.com has considered launching a new "cultural change" campaign with a simple message to young women:

"I Don't Date Boys Who Own Guns."

Mike of Gun Guys
With So Many Men Owning Guns, Domestic Violence Is Difficult to Prevent for Justice System
April 4, 2008
[I wonder if he has also considered a campaign with these simple messages to young women "I Don't Date Black (Jewish/Italian/Chinese/whatever) Boys". It would be entirely consistent if he did. One form of bigotry is just as valid as any other.--Joe]

The idea that the only way we think we can make a safer, better society is for everyone to carry a gun is incredibly sad. It's also individualistic--the answer to racism, rape, and gay bashing is to carry a gun, not have any form of social organizing.

Gwen
January 10, 2008 10:48 PM
Comment in Equal Opportunity Gun Ownership
[This is very revealing of their mindset. Apparently "social organizing" makes individual responsibility obsolete and justifiably deprives all individuals of the right to defend their lives. The collective is to defend the members it deems worthy of defensive. And of course we know how that works out. The "leaders" get their armed guards and the ordinary individual gets a dysfunctional and corrupt police system. The issues is that in the U.S. the elected officials are supposed to be "public servants" not "leaders". When the government successfully claims a monopoly on the use of force they have dropped all pretense of being "public servants" or "leaders" and have declared themselves to be "rulers".

Although Gwen didn't make the blog post she was commenting on she is a co-editor of the blog.

As Kevin pointed out "everyone" is blogging about this post and the comments. It was the source of my own QOTD yesterday.--Joe]

This is more like what I expect from Xenia.

"This makes ten" refers to the tenth bone she has broken in her life. It's not entirely obvious from the post.

Gun control serves violence, oppression, genocide, and other evil purposes. Opposing it serves peace, freedom, human dignity, and the triumph of intellect over brute force. Choose your side. Do you want the side that was supported by the KKK, racists, Nazis, rapists, gay-bashers, and other scum, or do you want the side that is supported by fine folks like the brave Jews who fought back against the Nazis, and men of peace like Ghandi?

The choice is yours, and history will remember you by it...

maineshark
April 3, 2008 5:37 AM
Comment in Equal Opportunity Gun Ownership
[H/T to Tam and Uncle. I'll probably use another comment from that same post as my QOTD tomorrow.--Joe]

The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away.

Ronald Reagan
["Best" doesn't necessarily mean brightest. It can also mean ethical. Now think about how much time the current presidential candidates have spent in government versus private business.

Reagan was right.--Joe]

Boomershoot 2008 shirts, caps, mugs, etc. are now available.

Update: The link has been updated. I had a private link before.

Lame.

Xenia, I know you can do better than that. 2007 was better and so was 2006.

I've been thinking about this for a long time and Sunday while waiting for the ferry to cross over to the island to visit Mr. Completely and Keewee I made my decision. The event that confirmed everything was the dog sniffing for explosives around the vehicles waiting for the ferry:

There were two things that really struck me about this. 1) The dog didn't take any particular interest in my car even though I had been making explosives and driving that car just a week earlier. No special precautions on cleanliness and the dog didn't hit on us. I also had several hundred rounds of ammunition in the trunk. Therefore the dog and all the WSP officers standing around are just more Security Theater. 2) Why isn't this considered an illegal search? We were on public roads doing nothing suspicious and we get searched.

After a few minutes of thought I realized the game I had been playing was over. For years I have pushing for restoring our freedom and yet we have suffered more and more infringements. There is always some "justification" for the infringement. Before 9-11 it was because of crime and recreational drug use. Now it's the threat of terrorism. Nearly all of the infringements are mere theater in regards to addressing the problems they claim to be concerned about yet they adversely affect the ordinary citizen.

With this realization I concluded I have been playing the game wrong. Therefore I have decided to change sides. From this moment forward I am on the side of Islam. Yes, I know, for the most part they are a bunch of losers. But I have my reasons:

• I think I can make a major contribution to turning their loser ways around.
  • I have thousands of pounds of explosives materials available for immediate use.
  • I have long range rifle experience and equipment.
  • I have computer security expertise.
  • I have extensive engineering experience.
• The U.S. Constitution is dead. It was killed by neglect years ago and there is no hope for its resurrection. This great hope for freedom has died and pretending otherwise is a fraud.
• If we can't have freedom then the next best thing is peace through uniformity of belief. Islam is the best hope for that.
• I'm getting older and so is Barb. Those 72 virgins for eternity are looking better and better.

I know I am handicapping myself by making this public announcement but I feel morally obligated to tell my friends and family the truth. I don't play the part of secret traitor well--I have to look at my face in the mirror each morning. As Winston Churchill once said in regards to formal declarations of war, "When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite."

My apologies to Uncle and others who (correctly at the time) said, "I’m glad he’s one of the good guys." Things change and perhaps you should too.

When Barb left this morning she didn't know. It was just returning to work in Idaho as she does every other week after spending the last several days with me. But that was the end of a 34 year run we had. Our first date was in March of 1974. This was a picture I took of her on that date, a walk along Dworshak Lake:

It was nice but she was only a virgin once. She just can't compete with 72 virgins for eternity.

You might ask, "What are you going to do?" and that's a fair question. I figure I have at best a few months before I am caught and probably killed but I am certain I can make a significant impact in that time frame. Think for a moment about how long a city could last if all the bridges, roads, water, and electricity were cut off with the repair crews taking sniper fire from 1000 yards away. Draw a circle with a radius of 1000 yards around each of the severed connections and imagine trying to protect the crews from someone, someplace in that area. And as law enforcement is searching for me there they won't really know if I am there are not. I could be several hundred miles away getting ready to sever another city from food, water, and power. You don't need nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons to create mass destruction. By creating the appropriate circumstances you can cause the delicate fabric of society to collapse and let nature do the rest.

Ry and I have observed it's rare that a single person can kill more than 200 people before being stopped. It is my ambition to set a record in the 10s of thousands and perhaps higher. I want my name to be in the history books as a demonstration of just what one determined person can do.

Allahu Akbar!

We've been waiting for this one a long time. The steps have been slow and incremental, but now, thanks to this judicious and far-sighted law, we can finally take full advantage of the Second Amendment rights guaranteed us under the United States Constitution. No longer will we have to become a convenience store owner or an elementary school teacher just to get our mitts on some of this tasty ordnance.

Sally Ack-Ack
Spokesman for the NWMDA (National Weapons of Mass Destruction Association, formerly known as the NRA).
October 9, 2021
Tactical Nuclear Weapons Approved for American Consumers
[I suspected "Sally Ack-Ack" was actually an alias for Ashley Varner at the NRA working on plans for a post Heller world. I sent an email and got a response that neither confirmed or denied:

Hey, at least they finally got the quote right! It's "guaranteed by the Constitution," NOT GRANTED!

Cool! Just wait until I upgrade Boomershoot to the new ordnance.--Joe]