Quote of the day—Adam Kline

There is no organization on our side in Olympia that can do for us what the NRA does for our pro-gun colleagues; that can gin up the support, generate the letters to the editors of every hometown paper, get the folks in our districts to circulate petitions and call and write and visit our district offices, get the back-stories of gun violence on the TV news, bring surviving victims to visit with editorial boards, bring the home folks to Olympia to pack the room at legislative hearings, raise funds to hire the consultants and wordsmiths to help target the sensitive races and frame the message and run the outside game. There is no one to organize this state’s willing and wealthy donors to fund independent expenditures and cut maximum checks to those suburban and rural Democrats for whom any gun bill is a tough vote—and yes, any Republican gutsy enough to buck his or her caucus—so that we legislators can get the job done. CeaseFire has little if any capacity for this unglamorous work. It prefers to release position papers and go on TV.

Adam Kline
Washington State Senator
October 2, 2012
Sen. Kline: Democrats haven’t wimped out on guns—The more complex truth behind Olympia’s failure to restrict access to firearms.
[H/T to Joe Waldron on the WA-CCW Yahoo Groups email list.

Read the whole thing and the comments. Understanding why we win and why they lose is important. We need to keep winning.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Barak Obama

The vast majority of Americans would like to see serious gun control. It does not pass because there is this huge disconnect between what people think and what legislators think and are willing to act upon.

Barak Obama
October 19, 1998

Listen starting at 0:18:21.
[The disconnect is between Obama and 1) the Constitution and 2) “the vast majority of Americans” Obama regards as irrelevant.

See also John Lott’s post on the same quote.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Robert Farago

Those people that seek to disarm others unleash evil upon the world.

Robert Farago
Gun Rights Policy Conference September 29, 2012.
[The sad part is that most of the people that participate in and advocate the disarming of people do it with the best of intentions. It’s like giving candy to your children and it rots their teeth.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Richard Nascak

We are not fighting for rights. We are fighting to regain rights we once had.

Richard Nascak
Co-Executive Director Florida Carry.
September 29, 2012
Gun Rights Policy Conference: Panel on State Legislative Affairs Briefing I.
[The only tweak I have to add is that gun rights aren’t lost or gained. They are infringed or respected. Hence I think this should be stated as “We are fighting to have our rights respected.”—Joe]

Quote of the day—Judge Michael Pert QC

If you burgle a house in the country where the householder owns a legally-held shotgun, that is the chance you take. You cannot come to court and ask for a lighter sentence because of it.

Judge Michael Pert QC
September 26, 2012
‘Expect to be shot if you burgle gun owners’, judge warns criminals
See also The police should heed this judge’s wise words and Burglary shooting couple emigrate to Australia.
[H/T largebear2 of the WA-CCW email list.

This wouldn’t be particularly noteworthy if it hadn’t happened in England. Had it been in one of the free territories of the U.S. I would have expected the judge to have advised the householder to use the same brand of buckshot the police use instead of birdshot.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Larry Hyatt

Ten thousand baby boomers a day are turning 65. They can’t run, they can’t fight, they got to shoot.

Larry Hyatt
Owner of a North Carolina gun shop.
Gun Control Fears And Obama Partially Responsible For Recent Increase In Weapons Sales
September 13, 2012
[Reality has this funny way of knocking down your door when you try to shut it out. Realizing that you are more at risk for a violent encounter at an older age even though you live “in a safe place” is one of those times.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Roberta X

Mitt’s probably the best practical hope — and a thin, thin reed indeed. Changing the slope isn’t the same as reversing the slope.

Roberta X
September 27, 2012
“Not Getting it” Less Is Not The Same As Having A Clue
[I agree. And as near as I can tell the slope is such that sliding off the “cliff” is pretty close to inevitable. No set of viable politicians will be, or can be, elected that have the political capital to reverse the slope. Approximately 47% of the population is dependent upon the slope remaining the same or increasing. Reaching them and getting them to vote against their own short term best interest is extremely unlikely.

I see the communists and socialists passing out flyers on the street corners and signs, speeches and chanting in the park across the street from where I work. I feel a chill up my back when I wonder if these are the same indicators that foretold the coming to power of the tyrannical governments of the USSR, China, Italy, and Germany and the deaths of 100+ million people in the last century.

I understand the psychology of postponing the chaos, hardships, and horrors of the “safety net” (it’s really more of a trampoline that bounces people up and then off into the dirt at a later time) and the “guarantees” of other “free” stuff people have come to depend on going away. But it’s going to happen. The only questions are when, how massive the disruption will be, and the form of society as we reboot. Is postponing it going to make it less painful or more? Without data and very little rational thought to support the belief I believe it will make it more painful.

I will vote in a few weeks but without passion or even “practical hope”, as Roberta put it, the elections can change much. I’m betting my best interest is in continuing to invest in copper, lead, brass, nitrogen based chemicals, food production, and smart capable friends as my hedge against inflation and the big “splat” at the bottom of the cliff.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Bubblehead Les

If there’s any conflict between Hillary and the Chicoms, it’s kinda like the difference between a Maoist and a Trotskyite.

Bubblehead Les
September 26, 2012
Comment to She’s a libertarian all of a sudden.
[In political philosophy anyway. Hillary wouldn’t want to play second fiddle to Mao or Trotsky.

I’ve read a fair amount about Hillary. She is smart, extremely ambitious, craves power, and the ice water in her veins is pumped by a heart of steel.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Tyler Durden

The US is no longer the cleanest dirty shirt, or least syphilitic hooker in the whorehouse as we so responsibly noted previously.

Tyler Durden
September 14, 2012
Europe and US Un-Decoupling
[This is in worldwide economic terms.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Frances Carodine

i can understand kill to eat but for sport. that like killing a tiger cause dick won’t get hard

Frances Carodine
September 11, 2012
Facebook comment.
[It’s another Markley’s Law Monday!

H/T to Miguel.

In addition to exhibiting symptoms of an obsession with Markley’s law Carodine has problems with punctuation and grammar. It must be rough to live with a mind that messed up.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Atlas Shrugged Part II Trailer

If you think you have the right to use force against me bring guns.

Atlas Shrugged Part II Trailer
September 5, 2012

That really resonated with me. But then the entire book did.

There are a bunch of other good quotes in there too.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Thomas Glenchur

2000 guns enter Mexico per day! ATF lost maybe 600 net over the entire operation period of Fast and Furious operation. While it is small consolation to the grieving of Mexico, a disproportionate 40% of the 2000 guns per day are arriving directly from the United States. Because the smugglers are shielded within the “gun rights” industrial complex, no one has had the courage to directly challenge them by regulation. Issa’s witch hunt has a perverse agenda to tie up law enforcement’s hands against weapons regulations that protect Mexicans and Americans.

Thomas Glenchur
September 20, 2012
Comment to Illegal guns from ‘Fast and Furious’ still on street
[2000 per day? Only 600? “‘gun rights’ industrial complex”? Wow! Glenchur is suffering from Peterson Syndrome, is living in an alternate universe and only visits here, or he is one of those “I know the truth in my heart of hearts” types.

Another commenter, Gary Villa, responded and provided a template to straighten him out but I can’t imagine Glenchur used it:

This is not even remotely true. There is only one official US Government assessment of the number of guns smuggled into Mexico from the US. It is the 2009 GAO report on the issue, compiled from the ATF’s own trace data – “FIREARMS TRAFFICKING:
U.S. Efforts to Combat Arms Trafficking to Mexico Face Planning and Coordination Challenges”. Google it. The report is still on the GAO website. Pay special attention to the Dept. of Homeland Security letter attached in the appendix, expressing concern that the data be accurately represented so as not to portray the number of guns being more than it actually was, exactly as the Obama administration did just before F&F was launched.

Over 5 years, the total number of guns found to have been smuggled into Mexico from the US was only 3450 out of over 30,000 total seized. That’s fewer than 700 guns/year, nowhere near your ridiculous figure of 2000/day. Also, the types of guns that were found to have been smuggled were almost all cheap handguns, not AK-47s, which is what the F&F idiots allowed to walk. In addition, according to US State Department documents released by Wikileaks, the vast majority of guns going to the cartels are those sold to the Mexican government through the US State Department itself, as part of US military aid, not guns purchased from US businesses and smuggled across the border. Why pay retail for small numbers of neutered civilian semi-autos and risk smuggling them across the border when the US State Department, led by Hilary Clinton, will have fully-automatic military assault rifles, grenades, and anti-tank weapons delivered to your doorstep in bulk and at wholesale prices?

The Obama administration knew about both the GAO report showing that gun smuggling was not a significant source, and their own State Department reports that the guns from their direct sales were, months before the beginning of Fast and Furious. So, the ATF claims that they launched F&F to combat a problem that their own best data said didn’t exist, and walked a type of gun their own data said was not preferred by smugglers, but which the administration has repeatedly said it would like to ban. Yeah, none of that is suspicious.

By the way, those same guns WERE regulated, under Clinton, and his own administration admitted that their regulations had no measurable effect on any form of crime.

It’s hard to believe someone can be so out of touch with reality but I’ve sat across the table and talked to people like that for hours. They apparently have happy productive lives as take out clerks at the grocery store and reluctantly vote for Obama because a more socialist candidate isn’t available.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Brandon Smith

What is it that makes Keynesians so insanely self destructive? Is it their mindless blind faith in the power of government? Their unfortunate ignorance of the mechanics of monetary stimulus? Their pompous self-righteousness derived from years of intellectual idiocy? Actually, I suspect all of these factors play a role. Needless to say, many of them truly believe that the strategy of fiat injection is viable, even though years of application have proven absolutely fruitless. Anyone with any sense would begin to question what kind of madness it takes to pursue or champion the mindset of the private Federal Reserve bank…

Quantitative easing has shown itself to be impotent in the improvement of America’s economic situation. Despite four years of free reign in central banking, employment remains dismal in the U.S., the housing market continues its freefall, and, our national debt swirls like a vortex at the heart of the Bermuda Triangle. Despite this abject failure of Keynesian theory, the Federal Reserve is attempting once again to convince you, the happy-go-lucky American citizen, that somehow, this time around, everything will be “different”.

Brandon Smith
September 14, 2012
Get Ready For An Epic Fiat Currency Avalanche
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Susan

I spent a day in Timbuktu. That was enough.

Susan
September 20, 2012
[I’ve been dating a bit via match websites. I met Susan for the first time today for lunch. She has lead a very interesting life. She has been to 22 countries—in Africa. Then there are the trips to Laos, Myanmar, Mongolia, North Korea, Iran, all five ‘stans, USSR (before and after the collapse), all the ordinary places like Europe, and several trips to Antarctica.

Once I recover some I have to write up something about some of them. I have had nine dates with six women in nine days recently. I have repeat dates with some on this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I think I’m done. Yes. I tend to focus intently on one task at a time.

Wow! There are some strange people out there as well as some nice and ordinary people. And there are the nice but not ordinary. Susan was in the later category. The one self-proclaimed liberal was a walking, talking, caricature that could be used by liberals most vehement critics.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Sen. Chuck Grassley

It’s clear that both the ATF and the Justice Department failed to provide meaningful oversight of Operation Fast and Furious. They ignored warnings from employees, and frankly, failed to do their jobs. It took the death of our own Border Patrol agent, action by a courageous whistleblower and intense scrutiny from Congress before they even took note of what was happening under their own eyes. Even then, they wouldn’t come clean with how bad it really was until after they had sent a false letter and retracted it eight months later.

Sen. Chuck Grassley
September 19, 2012
14 face discipline in Fast and Furious probe
[I have nothing to add but I’m doing some price checking on tar and feathers.—Joe]

Quote of the day—wolflover3825

And that is coming from someone who wants to disregard our right to self defense, someone who doesn’t acknowledge the part in the 2nd Amendment where it says “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”, someone who twists and turns everything inside out, upside down and sideways to misinform, confuse, and deceive the un-familiar. It’s actually funny he says that. It’s funny that he says the pro-gun people disregard the Constitution while he is the one that does it on a daily basis.

wolflover3825
September 9, 2012
Comment to Oh Ye of Little Faith: The Pro-Gun Movement’s Total Disregard for Our Constitution
[Sometimes I just have to shake my head. The anti-gun people accuse the pro-gun people of “total disregard for our constitution”. How can they possibly believe they can convince others of that? Yet, it would seem, they go beyond that and they actually believe it.

To be surrounded by people like them would be like living in an insane asylum.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Lyle

Special Interest; any interest with which communists disagree.

Lyle
September 11, 2012
Comment to Quote of the day—Suzanne Langland.
[This didn’t really catch my eye until Windy Wilson commented, “Lyle, ‘Liberty shouldn’t be a special interest’ does fit on a bumper sticker.”

I’m inclined to respectfully disagree with that being on a bumper sticker. I think the proper phrasing should be “Liberty is not a special interest.”—Joe]

Quote of the day—Richard

I told my broker about 5 years ago, “I wish I had had $150,000.00 worth of rifles instead of all that stock.”

Richard
September 16, 2012
Comment to We Are Of Different Worlds.
[I don’t own nearly as many guns as many people I know. But I can’t think of any gun, except those with exceptionally heavy use, that might have gone down in value. Nearly all have gone up in value. I have a lot of ammunition components (and a far amount of factory ammo). All of it has gone way up in value. Investing in lead and copper has paid off. Not as much as gold and silver has but you can’t eat gold or silver. And you can’t defend yourself, your family, or your possessions with a piece of gold or silver.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Robert Steinbuch

Unlike guns, cars are not designed to be deadly — needless to say — but they are involved in the death of almost as many Americans in one year than were killed in the whole Vietnam War. If we were to prohibit the manufacture and sale of blue Honda Accords (an excellent vehicle, no doubt), then there would almost inevitably be a reduction in the number of deaths caused by blue Accords. The relevant question, however, is whether automobile deaths overall would go down — which under this limited example, they seemingly would not.

By analogy, the relevant question regarding gun-control legislation is whether it makes people safer or just shifts the allocation of resources within a marketplace.

Robert Steinbuch
September 14, 2012 (date it became public even though the article is dated September 17)
Gun control is a moving target: Most gun-restriction laws simply shift purchasers to different lethal weapons — with the notable exception of limiting magazine size.
[From reading the title and his introduction, “I served as a counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, attached to a U.S. senator who was one of the original co-sponsors of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. I worked in the Senate when the act was up for renewal.” I expected something very anti-gun. It was much more factual and almost pro-gun.

I also like the comment from Lawrence Keane (do you recognize that name? You should!), “So it seems your point is that gun control is a failed social experiment? All the firearms misused by this criminal are commonly owned by law abiding citizens and protected by the Supreme Court’s Heller and McDonald decisions.”—Joe]

Quote of the day—scizzoid

It takes a child to raze a village.

scizzoid
2011
Comment to this picture:

razeAVillage
[H/T to Brennan from the gun email list at work.

It looks like she has really good control of the gun for someone her size.

A comment by Sherman from the email list at work is also worthy of note, “Peace through superior firepower!”—Joe]