Quote of the day—Goodwin Liu

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Impossibility can occasionally excuse noncompliance with a statute, but in such circumstances, the excusal constitutes an interpretation of the statute in accordance with the Legislature’s intent, not an invalidation of the statute.

Goodwin Liu
California State Supreme Court Justice
NATIONAL SHOOTING SPORTS FOUNDATION, INC., et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants,  v. STATE OF CALIFORNIA.
S239397
Ct.App. 5 F072310
Fresno County
Super. Ct. No. 14CECG00068
[See also California Supreme Court Upholds Bullet Micro-Stamping Law and Laws That Are ‘Impossible’ to Follow Can Still Be Constitutional, Says California Court

Background:

The Legislature amended the definition of unsafe handguns to include “all semiautomatic pistols that are not already listed on the roster pursuant to Section 32015 [if] not designed and equipped with a microscopic array of characters that identify the make, model, and serial number of the pistol, etched or otherwise imprinted in two or more places on the interior surface or internal working parts of the pistol, and that are transferred by imprinting on each cartridge case when the firearm is fired.

The manufactures said this requirement was impossible to comply with. The State Supreme court just said that doesn’t invalidate the law. You may not have to comply with the law, but the law still stands.

What I didn’t see in a quick scan through the ruling was whether the California DOJ will be required to ignore that part of the law when the test new guns in regards to whether the guns are safe or not and will people be able to purchase new guns which do not meet the microstamping requirements.

My thought is this is crazy talk. Just get out of there. These people are nuts.—Joe]

Wireless devices for home protection

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As an electrical engineer specializing in communications I have a certain bias when I hear the word “wireless”. The “Internet of Things” and the involvement of those sort of things in home security is a big thing these days. Because of the surprise of context switch with this image I received from Rolf a while back I thought it was very funny:

HighSpeedWireless

Rounds in the last month

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I reloaded 797 rounds of .40 S&W this month. It was all 180 grain Montana Gold JHP to be used for practice at indoor ranges. This was not nearly as much as I had hoped for. Things have been very busy on a variety of fronts and I just didn’t have the time to reload as much as I wanted. I did most of my practice with a .22 pistol instead of the .40.

This brings my lifetime reloaded ammunition totals to:

223: 4,813 rounds.
30.06: 756 rounds.
300 WIN: 1,591 rounds.
40 S&W: 83,504 rounds.
45 ACP: 2,007 rounds.
9 mm: 21,641 rounds.
Total: 114,312 rounds

Barb proposed!

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Today, at 11:00 AM, while on top of the peak “The Watchman” overlooking Crater Lake Barb said, “I want to talk.”

This was the view from our vantage point over the lake:

20180630_105105

Okay. This is a little odd. She can talk as much as she wants whenever she wants. Why is she announcing this now?

“I want to talk about our relationship.”, she continued.

I was seriously confused now. I thought things were fine. And why at this semi-public location does she want to have what appears to be a very serious conversation about our relationship? Is she breaking up with me? What did I do?!!!

I didn’t have to wait long. She explained, “Since my food intolerance went away I have decided I want to be married now.”

Oh! OH!!!!

I was all choked up and could barely talk.

Wow!

She then got down on one knee and said, “Would you do me the honor of being my husband?”

I gave her a hug and said, “Yes, of course.”

This picture was taken a few minutes later from the same place:

20180630_110255

The picture below was taken from across the lake a few hours later. There are two peaks above and to the left of Wizard Island. The second peak to the left is the one we were on when she proposed. Excellent choice!

20180630_125100

Quote of the day—Hamilton Nolan

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Read a f****** history book. Read a recent history book. The U.S. had thousands of domestic bombings per year in the early 1970s. This is what happens when citizens decide en masse that their political system is corrupt, racist, and unresponsive.

‘The people out of power have only just begun to flex their dissatisfaction. The day will come, sooner that you all think, when Trump administration officials will look back fondly on the time when all they had to worry about was getting hollered at at a Mexican restaurant.

Hamilton Nolan
June 25, 2018
This Is Just the Beginning
[There may be interesting times ahead. I was asked last Monday if I thought there would be a civil war in our country soon. I told them, “No. At least not one like the previous one with two or more militaries and visible government support on each side.”

However, Jim Goad does point out:

Third of Americans see a new US Civil War likely soon. As it stands currently: North 1, South 0. https://t.co/v8EtMgxgTz

In the following thread Jordenius‏ @Jordenius offered a correction of:

Republicans 1, Democrats 0.

Which, for some reason, in my mind, made it more real and likely to occur.

But when I think about it I still don’t think it will be military v. military. It will be left wing terrorists against the existing governments and hapless individuals caught in the middle. Which means the left wing terrorists will not have broad public support and will for the most part lose. It might play out similar to how it did in the 1970s.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Josh Horwitz

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Anthony Kennedy is retiring. Those four words could set the gun violence prevention movement back forty years.

In the past week, we’ve seen how devastatingly influential the Supreme Court can be to social justice in this country. With the news yesterday, it could get a whole lot worse.

A “guns everywhere” society.

Josh Horwitz
Executive Director
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
June 28, 2018
[Via email.

A “guns everywhere society”? Like everywhere someone might need to defend themselves or other innocent people from predators? Sure, what’s the problem with that?

And since Horwitz wants to prevent gun violence instead of punish people who commit crimes with guns I hope his movement is set back, not just 40 years but, to sometime approaching the beginning of time. I know that is a bit too much to hope for. I’d settle for something like 10,000 years. That’s a reasonable compromise, right?—Joe]

PCC Build Test Fire

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Pistol Caliber Carbines are becoming very popular at both action shooting (such as USPSA) and steel matches. I haven’t taken much interest in them but I see a lot of people shooting them at the matches in the Seattle area.

Here son-in-law John shows us one in action:

Quote of the day—Greg Abbott @GregAbbott_TX

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The gun control debate was settled…in 1791.

Greg Abbott @GregAbbott_TX
Governor of Texas
Tweeted on June 25, 2018
GregAbbottGunControlDebateSettled
[It may have been settled then but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t became an issue years later. And with the return of the debate we, of course, now have massive infringements of our natural and constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.

Still, it’s a decent response to gun controls advocates. Tell them the issue is settled and, “Your move. Are you volunteering to take them away from anyone?—Joe]

Quote of the day—Emily Witt

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Despite the Parkland students’ insistence on taking a back seat, I was still surprised when Emma González did not speak at the event. Instead, the other Parkland students came out arm in arm, led by a Stoneman Douglas student named Kyrah Simon, and gave an expression of support that rivalled the speeches by will.i.am and Chance the Rapper in its lack of substance. “Everyone from Parkland is so grateful to be here with you tonight,” Simon said. “Our voices and your voices united are stronger than anything else!” When this short speech ended, the audience seemed confused—that was all? Father Pfleger had to hype the crowd as the Parkland visitors left the stage. This was either a magnanimous gesture or a cop-out. What example did it set if the Parkland students, with all of their radical empathy, treated Chicago’s violence as unknowable? The night had been a moving testament by young people trying to overcome a long history of inertia, and the visitors had chosen not to specify their commonalities. These thoughts, however, seemed ungenerous.

Emily Witt
June 26, 2018
Launching a National Gun-Control Coalition, the Parkland Teens Meet Chicago’s Young Activists
[I’ve attended many anti-gun events and pro-gun owner events with protestors. I’m always somewhat startled by the the poor quality of their presentation. I keep thinking, “Is this all they’ve got?” Here we have an article in the New Yorker also pointing out “The Emperor has no clothes.”

It’s a start.—Joe]

Friends don’t let friends use Serpa holsters

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If you have a Serpa holster please throw it away. Tell others to throw theirs away. Don’t go shooting with people who use Serpa holsters.

If I know you well enough I’ll tell you the story as to how I came to this very firm conclusion via an email request. Otherwise ask me at match or other shooting event. I won’t be blogging about it.

I was not injured.

Update: Apparently some people aren’t familiar with Serpa holsters:

SerpaHolster

The gun is locked into the holster until you depress the unlocking lever with your index finger. You must keep it depressed until the gun is withdrawn maybe an eighth of an inch. What ends up happening is that the index finger keeps on pressing as the gun is completely removed from the holster. There have been many cases of there being an accidental discharge during the draw because the index finger ends up on the trigger and putting sufficient pressure on it to fire the gun before the gun is pointed away from the shooter.

In the report I have in hand what is believed to have happened was the shooter was moving the gun in and out of the holster practicing the release of the lock. When his finger entered the trigger guard on the partial draw and he then pushed the gun back into the holster catastrophe happened. The shooter survived and probably will make an, essentially, full recovery.

Quote of the day—Brian Keith

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The true diversity test

Liberals love to talk about diversity.

Churches in Seattle are festooned with “love your Muslim neighbor” signs.

But the real test of diversity isn’t whether you can break bread with someone who worships differently than you.

The real test is if you can be civil, be courteous, be inviting… to gun owners.

Consider this: all gun owners, in the minds of liberals, are responsible for all mass shootings.

Remember, a bombing or knife attack is the responsibility of the person, but attacks with guns are the responsibility of the inanimate object and all people who have those inanimate objects are at risk of engaging in the same criminal behavior.

This is the liberal mentality of, “I wouldn’t trust myself with a gun because I might go shoot someone the first time I got angry!”

To most readers here who concealed carry on a regular basis that sounds absurd, but I promise you it is a devout belief among Seattle liberals.

They believe that having a gun makes you into a crazy person who murders people.
Which book your worship out of, or if you pray with your hands in front of you or on the ground- that is small potatoes compared to having a device that instantly makes you a murderous psychopath.

And so the true diversity test is not whether you would shake a Muslim’s hand, or eat dinner with someone of a different skin color, or even a different sexuality. These kinds of diversity are officially encouraged, condoned, and safe.

The true diversity test is- would you have coffee with a gun owner?

With someone who lives on the responsibility plane of “I keep myself, my family, and my community safe from violence” and relies on police as the second line of defense?

My experience among liberals tells me, mostly not.

And I think it’s not just the gun- it’s the self-reliance that’s to blame.

Apart from my neighbors, I don’t accept that violence just happens randomly and I can do nothing to stop it.

I don’t wait meekly while evil people do evil things.

And in Seattle, that separates me from my community.

That stigmatizes me.

If I ever let it be known.

Check out the Pink Pistols experience in the Pride Parade. Flagrantly gay? Two thumbs up. Want to talk about defending yourself? We’ll follow you around and shout you down so everyone knows you aren’t welcome here.

I imagine inviting my more liberal friends to coffee and letting them know I’ll be armed. Or revealing during coffee that I’m carrying.

I don’t have the courage.

I don’t want the scene.

I can’t bear to lose yet more friends because I believe life is worth defending and I actually prepare to live that belief.

But you, dear reader of Joe’s blog- perhaps your liberal friends are different?

Perhaps you could invite them to a social situation where they explicitly know you’ll be armed?

I’ll love to hear the results of your True Diversity Test in the comments below.

Brian Keith
June 25, 2018
Via email. Slightly edited with permission.
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Tiffany Johnson

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One: I really wish my pro-gun friends would stop calling people “libtards.” Two: I really wish my gun-averse friends would stop calling people “Nazis.” #NotHelping. That is all.

Tiffany Johnson
June 24, 2018
Please Just Stop
[I have a strong inclination to agree with this. I used to call certain groups derogatory names and probably still do at times. But I try to avoid the name calling and talk about factual stuff and tendency instead. I still use insulting terms, such as having “crap for brains” for individuals if I think they deserve it on a particular issue or point.

The reason I think it doesn’t help is because it alienates people who might be aligned with you on one or more topics. For example, someone might identify as a liberal because of their strong support for equal rights and access to legal abortion. They might also think gun ownership is important but is not what they mostly identify with. Getting them to help teach an introductory gun class is going to be a lot easier if you haven’t, even indirectly, called them a “libtard”.—Joe]

Quote of the day—ACLU

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The ACLU generally will not represent protesters who seek to march while armed.  It is important that this content-neutral rule be applied without regard to a speaker’s political views.  It should also apply whether or not state law permits or prohibits the carrying of weapons in a protest.  To this end, and consistent with time and resource constraints (including assistance from the national office to affiliates and vice versa), we should exercise due diligence in assessing whether the potential client seeks to march while armed.  If there is reason to believe that the clients do so intend, and we are unable to satisfy ourselves that they will not do so, we should be reluctant to accept representation.

ACLU Case Selection Guidelines: Conflicts Between Competing Values or Priorities
2018
[H/T to Chet in the comments.

See also: Memo: ACLU Will Weigh ‘Effect on Marginalized Communities’ in Free-Speech Cases

Apparently some speakers are more protected than others. Neo Nazis marching down the streets of Jewish residents should be protected. Gun owners advocating for the right of Jewish residents to have the ability to defend themselves should not be protected.

Okay, that makes things perfectly clear for me. Whatever “principles” the ACLU claims to have do not have a significant overlap with mine.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Phil Watson

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After further examining and scrutiny of printed text on an official I-1639 petition it is apparent that language designated to be changed or removed is not “lined out,” nor are proposed new statutory additions underlined as they appear in the version submitted to the state and published on the Secretary of State’s website.

If petitions being circulated are not “true and correct” it is agreed that we must challenge these petitions and have them legally invalidated.

Since the outset of I-1639, our campaign has raised questions about not just the unethical nature of the initiative and its backers, but also the unethical gamesmanship of the public policy process.

Phil Watson
Committee Chairman
Save Our Security | NO on I-1639
https://saveoursecurity.net
[Regarding a petition intended to be put before Washington State voters this fall.

Via email June 22, 2018.

And from here:

I-1639Deception0

I-1639Deception1

They have to lie to win. Lying has become a part of their nature. I suspect they literally cannot resist the urge to lie. These are evil people committing evil against the people of this state. The signature gathers, the signers of the initiative, and especially the people financing this fraud are conspiring to infringe the rights of Washington State citizens and should be prosecuted.

And via email from Brian Keith:

I-1639Deception2

Keith also said:

The sign on the right says “protect kids from guns.”

This is at Trader Joe’s in Seattle.

So we have a few lies here:

A 20 year old is a “kid”

A law can protect a kid from violence

A 18 year old would only be hurt by owning a gun, and wouldn’t be defending themselves

18-20 year olds are actually attacked with “assault weapons” to a significantly significant degree

People who serve in the military aren’t competent to possess firearms in their daily life

The list goes on…

So, crap for brains, or knows they are lying and just wants power at any cost?

Does it matter?

Brian Keith

Don’t sign this petition.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Greg Bates

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If we want to end the carnage, we must advocate for the solution that is required, not one designed to be politically palatable. Instead of shying away from the NRA’s accusation that gun control advocates want to take away their guns, we should embrace it as a mantra.

Let’s clear the air and call for total civilian disarmament. Period.

Greg Bates
February 25, 2018
Maine Voices: It’s time for a gun abolition movement
[I find it interesting there is no thought given to how, or who will take away all the guns. And does Mr. Bates have any clue what the cost will be? I don’t think so. I think he has crap for brains.

Don’t ever let anyone get away with telling you that no one wants to take your guns.—Joe]

I know that guy!

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From NRA Shooting Sports USA:

John Vlieger won High Overall at the 2018 USPSA Michigan Sectional Championship at the Detroit Sportsmen’s Congress in Utica, MI, earlier this month. Vlieger finished with 1196.4947 match points and a time of 115.44.

Picture from Ammoland:

JohnVliegePlaque

John is my son-in-law.

Quote of the day—BestFeeds

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A law should be made to ban freelance freight and ban on running open arms. But this law has not passed due to the effect of the influence of the owners and arms lobby in congress of arms manufacturing factories.

BestFeeds
June 20, 2018
No Gun Control Legislation -70 People died in 3 days in United States
[This author could be replaced with a relatively simple computer program. Or, quite possibly, he already has been. With these anti-gun people it’s sometimes so hard to tell.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Jim N. Taylor

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If we wiped out the ATF agency tomorrow, we would all sleep more soundly the next night, and our tax burden would decrease a bit. If we limited our fears to what is rational, most of government would disappear.

Jim N. Taylor
June 19, 2018
COMMENTARY: Flat sales taxes fail to discriminate
[It is irrational to expect people to be rational.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Quinn Norton

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Facebook and Google seem very powerful, but they live about a week from total ruin all the time. They know the cost of leaving social networks individually is high, but en masse, becomes next to nothing. Windows could be replaced with something better written. The US government would fall to a general revolt in a matter of days. It wouldn’t take a total defection or a general revolt to change everything, because corporations and governments would rather bend to demands than die. These entities do everything they can get away with — but we’ve forgotten that we’re the ones that are letting them get away with things.

Quinn Norton
May 20, 2014
Everything Is Broken
[This appears to be true. I suspect part of it is because most people want to belong to a social group. They want to be “normal” and liked and “supported”. If you take someone out of their social support group they loose their confidence. Making someone an outcast, for many people, is a terrible punishment. “Public opinion” matters because we evolved in an environment where shared values and group support gave us an advantage. Those shared values could contain some great falsities—a rain dance doesn’t change the weather, sacrificing a young girl to a “volcano god” doesn’t appease it, and the Final Solution to the “Jewish problem” didn’t make the world a better place. But a common belief that they could change the unchangeable and improve society by murdering millions probably improved morale, gave them a sense of accomplishment, and increased the productivity of the group.

Belonging to “the tribe” is important at a very deep level. This knowledge gives us power to take down powerful forces. But to be effective you can’t just make large numbers of people outcasts. You have to replace their existing “tribe” with another tribe. Religious cults recruit social outcasts and fulfill this basic need and they will believe the craziest things. Democrats recruit groups of people that believe such crazy things as a people can tax their way to prosperity, the government can control prices with no ill effects, or people and even states cannot afford health insurance but taxing people and filtering the money through the federal government will result in plenty of money. This coalition works and is powerful despite the crazy beliefs for the same reason the rain dancing and sacrificing to the volcano gods work. We can’t just mock them and make them outcasts. They will further insolate themselves from the truth.

I appears to me that all political parties have their share of crazy beliefs and do their share of rain dancing, appeasing non-existent gods, and murdering innocent people. Don’t align yourself with political parties and leaders any more than you have to. Align yourself with the truth and work to make social outcasts of those who promote falsity. Yes, I know truth is very hard to discern but as long as you don’t get emotionally involved with the answers you find along the way you can work your way closer with very little backsliding.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Michael Z. Williamson

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And as to the solution to the problem you think you see: That has to be social and cultural, just as it was with the “problem” of liquor leading up to and during Prohibition, and as it is for marijuana and other recreational and potentially pharmaceutical drugs.

Which, as you might recall, also became “epidemics” because ignorant idiots insisted they knew the answers, until experts finally talked some sense into them.

Now please be quiet, the adults are talking.

Michael Z. Williamson
February 16, 2016
So You Want To Have A Conversation About Gun Control?
[If you think about it just a little bit you probably will find it odd that ant-gun people can’t see the similarities between prohibition of alcohol, recreational drugs, and guns. Prohibition of the first two did not work and the prohibition of the last isn’t and won’t work. But the anti-gun people somehow belief things will be different with guns. But, they can’t be that stupid, can they?

Some, of course, are. Others have no ability to think rationally. But the higher up the food chain you go the more you realize that can’t explain things. Leland Yee is a special case all his own. But there are numerous others that don’t fit any good model. There is one hypothesis that does seem to work in nearly all the remaining cases and has historical support in other countries.

They want a compliant citizenry.—Joe]