Monthly Archives: March 2009

Arrested at my gas station

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When in Moscow I buy my gas there:



Pullman police arrested a 20-year-old man overnight for allegedly shooting another man in the face.


…


Pullman Police and the Moscow Police Department worked together to find Lawrence, who was arrested at a Tesoro gas station in Moscow a half hour after the shooting.


Just because they are across the state line from each other doesn’t mean they don’t have excellent cooperation. My understanding is the Washington State University Police (in Pullman), Whitman County (Washington), and Latah County (Idaho) police also work closely with the Pullman and Moscow city police. I’ve met a few of them, shoot with some of them and occasionally some of the sniper teams attend Boomershoot. All of seem to be good guys. Perhaps a little grumpy when one of their fellow officers gets shot (pictures here) however.

Monumentally stupid idea

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It doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to arrive at the same conclusion as Mr. Brunson:



Dugger was treated at the hospital after one of the bullets police say he was slamming with a hammer exploded, blowing shrapnel into his leg.


“If you get hit with something hot and fast and out of control, it’s going to possibly cause a problem,” said Travis Brunson, owner of Chiquita Guns.


The event was reportedly witnessed by several children belonging to Dugger’s roommate, who was already under investigation by the Department of Children and Families for inadequate supervision of the children.


“Anyone nearby could have certainly been hit by it. It’s such a monumentally stupid idea,” Brunson said.

This is How the Problem Can be Solved

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Posit; We know our government is out of control.  We know the U.S. and many of the state constitutions are being willfully violated.  We know that more people need to be made aware of the scope of the problem.  What then?  What do we actually do about it?  I’ve been talking to you all here, I attended one of the “We Surround Them” meetings, plus I’ve talked with friends and acquaintances for years about it.  It’s not a partisan issue– it’s pandemic.  We tried the Republican Party.  We handed them both houses of Congress and the Whitehouse at the same time, but clearly they are not, and have not been, at all serious about reducing the size and scope of government and restoring lost liberties.


If we were to try the (barely) successful model of the 1770s, we’d be storming government offices right now, tarring and feathering politicians, etc.  I don’t think that’s necessary at this stage, however.  Not just yet.  We have tools that were not available to the American colonists.  We have the legal process at our immediate disposal on our own soil.  Here is one example;



Former State Sen. Vincent Fumo was convicted of all 137 counts against him today as his marathon federal corruption trial ended in a stunning victory for prosecutors.


We can talk to our neighbors, local business owners, law enforcement, legal scholars and prosecutors.  Nearly every locale in America has a target rich environment for criminal prosecutions of politicians who are blatantly over-stepping their authority, intimidating innocent people, and attempting to pass laws in violation of our constitution.  Cases and jurisdictions need to be carefully examined, but there are rich pickings all across America right now.


If there is an epidemic of such cases, some of those in office will start to get the point.  If they don’t get the point after that or if the courts fail in their duty, we’ll have to start buying tar.

Explosives Employee Possessor update

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Last Thursday I reported the ATF responded well to my request for clearance for Boomershoot staff and gun bloggers to handle explosives at Boomershoot 2009. I have a quick update which is also positive.


The three people that had their clearances “Pending” on Thursday were all cleared by Friday.


Yesterday one of the people noticed there was a typo on his address in the clearance paperwork. I sent the ATF an email this morning informing them of the error and requesting clearances for two more people. About two hours later I received the following email:



Good morning Mr. Huffman –


I have made the correction for Mr. XXXXX and ask for a corrected print of his Letter of Clearance with the correct address. I will also get the 2 possessors added to your license.


Nice. And I sent him an email thanking him for his quick service too.


ATF still should be a convenience store instead of a regulatory agency and they still should get their wrist slapped (and others should be hanged) for some of the crap they pull. But just because someone has ATF on their business card doesn’t necessarily mean they are Gestapo.

Read your own references

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Eric Boehlert goes on a rampage about gun control and cites some references to support his position:



After a mentally ill student, Seung-Hui Cho, had made a mockery of Virginia’s gun laws by falsifying his gun-store background check and killing 32 people with the guns he purchased illegally, CNN presented a debate in which an activist arguing that the United States needed to relax its gun-control laws was given equal time to an activist who urged that the country tighten its gun laws. The pro-gun advocate, who represented a radical minority in America, was put on the same footing as the gun-control advocate, whose views reflected the clear plurality of Americans, who have consistently called for stricter gun laws. That’s how CNN chose to frame the debate in the immediate wake of the Virginia Tech massacre.


…


Left unreported in that kind of gun coverage is the fact that relaxing gun laws in the United States represents a radical, out-there idea that’s supported by just a tiny fraction of Americans. Not even gun owners in America want to make the laws less restrictive. (Just 15 percent back the idea.)


What I find interesting is the first reference he cites says this:



  • Just about 4 in 10 Americans are dissatisfied with gun laws in the country, while half are satisfied.

  • The pressure to make gun laws stricter appears to be mitigated. Just slightly more than half of Americans support making laws covering firearms sales more strict, at its lowest point since 2002.

  • More than two in three Americans oppose the government completely outlawing the right to possess a handgun.

  • Nearly 6 in 10 of Americans now say the government should enforce current gun laws more strictly rather than passing new laws. This percentage is up this year, similar to levels previously measured in 2002.

  • The public has grown slightly more likely to say that having a gun in the home makes it a safer, rather than a less safe, place to be. The opposite was true previously from 2000 to 2004.

    • This has a completely different tone than Boehlert’s rant. Boehlert had to really stretch to use it has justification for his conclusions.


    In the use of his second reference he overlooks the fact that just 51% of the public thinks the laws should be made more strict versus 47% (2% have no opinion). And that 4 point difference is down from 14 points in the previous year and down from 60 points a few years before that! The trend is definitely in our favor.


    And what does this guy think the “other side” of those in favor of more restrictive gun laws would be? Apparently he is of the opinion the two sides are “more gun control” and “no more gun control for a while”. This is like trying to work out a compromise with your would-be rapist by asking him to wear a condom.


    I’m of the opinion even the “pro-gun” position mentioned is not really “the other side”. A public opinion poll, which didn’t even ask the right question to find out how many people are on “the other side”, can’t possibly define it. I’ve explained the middle ground before and so won’t do so again here. But suffice it to say Boehlert should be thrilled “the other side” chosen was as close to his viewpoint as it was. Had it really been “the other side” he would have had an aneurysm.

    Quote of the day–Lazarus Long

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    Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without.


    Interest charges not only eat up a household budge, awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity.


    Lazarus Long
    The Notebooks of Lazarus Long, page 30.
    “The Notebooks…” was extracted from Robert A. Heinlein’s book Time Enough for Love in which Long is the main character.
    [Although this advice was intended for marriages between humans in a common household, probably including group marriages, it seems to me it applies to much larger groups as well. I’m thinking of our city, state, and Federal governments.–Joe]

    ATF loses one

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    The ATF started really harassing the model rocketry folks a few years back. Today they got their wrists slapped:



    District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton for the District of Columbia today issued an order finding in favor of the Tripoli Rocketry Association and National Association of Rocketry vs. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The decision followed a status hearing this past Friday in Washington.


    Walton’s order granted a summary judgment motion in favor of the plaintiffs TRA and NAR, denied the summary judgment motion of BATFE, and vacated the classification of Ammonium Perchlorate Composite Propellant (APCP) as an explosive.


    …


    The parties came before the Court on March 13, 2009, for a hearing on the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment. Upon consideration of the parties’ written submissions, the administrative record presented to the Court, the applicable legal authority, the oral arguments presented by the parties, and for the reasons expressed by the Court at the hearing on the motion, the Court finds that the agency’s decision does not satisfy the standard for evaluating agency rulemaking because it was arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law. 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A). Specifically, the defendant did not adequately explain why it came to the decision it did in light of contrary evidence in the administrative record submitted by the plaintiffs, which tended to show that APCP can burn at a rate lower than that which the defendant designated as the threshold, and “which, if true, . . . would require a change in [the] proposed rule.’” La. Fed. Land Bank Ass’n, FLCA v. Farm Credit Admin., 336 F.3d 1075, 1080 (D.C. Cir. 2003); see D&F Afonso Realty Trust v. Garvey, 216 F.3d 1191, 1195 (D.C. Cir. 2000) (quoting Public Citizen, Inc. v. F.A.A., 988 F.2d 186, 197 (D.C. Cir. 1993) (”‘[t]he requirement that agency action not be arbitrary or capricious includes a requirement that the agency adequately explain its result . . . .’”). Here, the agency’s shortcoming was its failure to articulate any rationale for finding that the relevant and significant evidence in the record that conflicted with its position was unpersuasive, which it seemingly out-of-hand dismissed merely because it was contrary to the agency’s ultimate conclusion.


    I hope this is but one of many more to come in regards to both firearms and explosives. It’s long past time they were told in no uncertain terms they must obey the law.

    School Shooting Fun

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    This Saturday, the 14th, my son’s school trap shooting team hosted a trap meet.  Hosting means we show up at 07:30 instead of 09:00.  We shoveled snow while others set up the kitchen and got the coffee started, loaded the traps with targets, etc.  It also means we stay after to clean and pack things up.


    Below; Our next door neighbor, Laura, busts a target.  She hadn’t fired a shotgun in her life until just this winter when I helped out by hand-throwing targets for her.  Saturday she held her own quite well.  You can tell she’s using a 20 gauge automatic, can’t you?



    Below; Your average Eastern Washington high school kids in their natural setting.



    Below; Alex pops one off.  He hit 28 of 50 this time out.



    Below; Robert Cray wrote a song about this. (I know those buildings look pretty close for being downrange of a shooting club.  It’s the camera lens– I’m ~30 yards behind the shooter using a long lens.  Those buildings are over 350 yards away.  The 7 1/2 shot pellets are gently raining down at that distance.



    Below; One of the school vehicles in the parking lot.  Reach for the stars– learn to shoot well.



    This was the first time I’d watched an “Annie Oakley”.  It looks really fun.  All the participants line up side-by-side at the farthest “handicap” line (farthest from the trap house from which the targets are launched).  They worked in groups of three.  The first shooter on the left calls for a target.  “Pull!”  If that shooter makes a hit, the next shooter to the right calls for a target.  If the one who called, “Pull!” misses, the shooter to the right takes a shot.  If that one is a hit, the primary shooter (the caller) is eliminated from the game.  If the second shooter misses, a third shooter takes a shot.  If that shot is a hit, the first two shooters are eliminated. If one shooter makes a hit, but the next shooter in that group of three fires anyway, that shooter, and anyone in that group who fired and missed, is eliminated.  This goes on, in groups of three, with each shooter on the line taking a chance on being the first of three, over and over until there’s one shooter left, who of course wins the game.  I understand there is big money in some of these games, but this being a school event I think the big prize was ten dollars– almost enough to cover half the day’s ammo cost for the winner.

    Needs help

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    I got the following email this morning. My response follows:



    From: tjif tjaf
    Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2009 10:36 AM
    To: joeh@boomershoot.org
    Subject: need help


     


    Hi


     


     


    Do you know a way to blow up a house just enough so nobody can live in anymore.


    I mean the exploision must be big enough so it creates a hole or crack in the wall.


     


    Why? whell nobody is living in it for now but it is located in a extraordinary forest with
    som very rare birds and they dont like the be disturbed. so now is the chance to get rid


    of this builing before somebody buys it and want to live in it. i thought to put a propane tank
    in the bassement but i don’t know if it is enough or even explodes.


     


     


    thanks


     





    Uw e-mailcontact koos voor Hotmail en profiteert van een enorme opslagruimte! Maak ook een gratis Hotmail-account aan


    From: Joe Huffman
    Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2009 1:47 PM
    To: ‘tjif tjaf’
    Subject: RE: need help


     


    I haven’t worked with propane tanks much. Maybe someone on the Belgium Explosive Ordinance team would know the answer.


     


    I don’t have any contacts in Belgium but I have put some of my contacts in the U.S. (Susan and Crystal with the ATF) on the Bcc: line in hopes they know how to contact them for you.


     


    -joe-


    —–

    Arsenal of stolen arms gets six years in club Fed

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    I posted about this guy once before. This probably will be the last time. This is just down the road from where I work. I have driven by there many times. Apparently a lot of the items were stolen:



    A 65-year-old Spokane man pleaded guilty Thursday to having an arsenal of illegal military weapons and explosives in a Bellevue storage unit.


    Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Ronald Struve in January after his cache of weapons — which included dozens of machine guns and blocks of C-4 plastic explosives — was discovered by a man who bought at auction the contents of the storage unit at 12863 Northup Way after the unit’s rent went unpaid, according to a criminal complaint.


    …


    Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Woods declined to say what motive Struve had for collecting the weapons other than to note that Struve had said “he might have to use it some day.”


    Under terms of a plea agreement, Struve faces a sentence of 63 to 78 months in a federal prison.

    Yes, they are that stupid

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    About a month ago when I posted about how stupid one anti-gun bigot was some people wondered if maybe it was a rhetorical question or a clever tactic.


    There is more evidence to indicate that some of them really are that stupid:



    The Tennessee legislation is about loaded long guns inside of motor vehicles. The Alabama shooter was driving around in a motor vehicle with loaded long guns (plus a handgun). In addition to the five relatives he killed, he killed five innocent bystanders — three of whom were going about their business on the sides of public streets. The shooter shot and killed them from his vehicle. If the guns had not been loaded, he would have had to stop and load them. There is a slight chance that three people might have noticed what he was doing and had time to flee — or as Rep. Fincher suggests, shoot him before he shot anyone else.

    The guys with the guns make the rules

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    Paul Helmke of the Brady Campaign again demonstrates he just doesn’t get it or again thinks he can fool most people. Yesterday he blogged about something the NRA said:



    …Wayne LaPierre was over the top.


    He explained to all of us in America that “the guys with the guns make the rules.”


    Most of us believe that in a democracy, the voters make the rules.


    And how is it do you think you maintain your right to vote Paul? You apparently want to overlook The Battle of Athens for example. And then there are the little things like how German Jews, Russian farmers, and millions of others who lost their ability to vote and live in the past few decades when they didn’t hold on to their guns.


    Soap box, ballot box, jury box, and as a last resort the cartridge box.

    Quote of the day–Robespierr

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    When a Banker jumps out of a window, jump after him — that’s where the money is.


    Robespierr
    [I’m pretty sure this was not the Robespierr. It’s just some random quote I picked up a decade or more ago probably from a Usenet group or something that I thought was appropriate for today’s economic situation.–Joe]

    The ATF was awesome this time

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    A week ago today I whined about the ATF being technically challenged as I was trying to get clearance for the Boomershoot staff (and some bloggers) to handle explosives.


    Last night I got a call from daughter Kim saying I got a letter from them. “Open it up!” I said. She did and told me that all of the people I requested clearance on, except for three, were approved. Those three are pending and are allowed to handle explosives until I am told otherwise.


    I am flabbergasted. That was awesome “service”.


    While I am of the opinion the ATF should be a convenience store rather than a regulatory agency I must admit they did their job well and without causing me pain once they actually got the paperwork in hand.


    Thanks guys.

    Two more Boomershoot 2009 positions available

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    Last May Boomershoot donated two positions to the Friends of the NRA in King County (Seattle area). They thought they were going to have their dinner/auction before the end of April 2009 but that didn’t happen. The dinner/auction is now scheduled to be in May which is after the event. So they have put the two positions up for bid on eBay. Those positions are #41 in the main area and #51 on the berm.


    You can see the view from the Main and Berm areas here:


    http://entry.boomershoot.org/#Main
    http://entry.boomershoot.org/#Berm


    The entire proceeds go to Friends of the NRA to fund Youth Shooting programs and any amount above the fair market value ($150 for one person, $250 for two, $300 for three) is tax deductible.


    Hurry, the auction ends in six and a half days.