Low expectations for failed viewpoint

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Via email from Ladd Everitt, Director of Communications, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence:

I am excited to announce the launch of another limited-edition CSGV t-shirt featuring the slogan, “What Part of ‘Well Regulated’ Don’t You Understand?“
This 100% cotton, U.S.-made t-shirt is available in three colors (black, navy blue and light blue) and sends the message that the overhwhelming majority of us do not agree with the NRA’s extreme and insurrectionist interpretation of the Second Amendment.

…

Our goal is to sell 250 tees in the next 20 days. If we can reach that goal, Represent.com will print and mail out the t-shirts, and donate all but $1 of the proceeds from each shirt directly to CSGV! [Because Represent.com uses the Kickstarter model for their campaigns, if you purchase a shirt and we do not reach our goal of 250 sales, your money will be returned.]

WellRegulated

Even ignoring the typo of the word “overwhelming” this email is filled with fail.

The “well regulated” part of the Second Amendment has been explained so many times that the only way someone who follows the issue could be unaware of true meaning of this is if they put significant effort into denial. For example in the Heller Decision we find (pages 23 and 24):

Finally, the adjective “well-regulated” implies nothing
more than the imposition of proper discipline and training.
See Johnson 1619 (“Regulate”: “To adjust by rule or
method”); Rawle 121–122; cf. Va. Declaration of Rights
§13 (1776), in 7 Thorpe 3812, 3814 (referring to “a well regulated
militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms”).

So Everitt, mocking people for failure to understand the meaning of “well regulated”, gets it totally wrong himself.

Given such a poor foundation it comes as no surprise that he has a goal of selling 250 t-shirts. 250? For an overwhelming majority of the people opposing the NRA and Supreme Court’s viewpoint? The NRA has about five million members. That would mean Everitt believes there are several times that many people who agree with him. Yet he only expects to sell 250 shirts to those 10 to 50 million people that disagree with the NRA and the Supreme Court viewpoint of the Second Amendment.

One has to marvel at the amount of stupid in this guy if he believes what he is saying. It isn’t even internally consistent. He truly has crap for brains.

Ghost Gunner

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This is the October Surprise they told us about.

Via email from Defense Distributed:

Today, Defense Distributed unveils project Ghost Gunner.

Ghost Gunner is an open source CNC mill developed to enable the common man to more easily and privately manufacture critical gun components.

More information can be seen today at Wired and at GhostGunner.net.

Thank you

Quote of the day—Alan Gura

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Perhaps in some cases a studied commitment to atheism leads one to the priesthood, but judges doubtless understand the advantage of Justice Breyer’s approach in sanctioning just about any result they would like to reach.  Dispensing with the constraints of text and history, and deferring absolutely to legislative “judgment” overcomes any constitutional “right.” 

Alan Gura
April 11, 2014
Harvard Law Review Forum
The Second Amendment as a Normal Right: Ruling out ad hoc interest-balancing
[H/T Glenn Reynolds.

In this commentary Gura also makes the abortion rights analogy similar to what Lyle has done here.

See also what Sebastian has to say about Gura’s commentary.—Joe]

Habitat destruction update

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I posted on this topic nearly seven years ago. We now have an update on the risk of species extinction due to habitat loss of this well known species:

Every few years an alarm is raised; habitat loss puts this species at risk. “Pubic grooming has led to a severe depletion of crab louse populations… an environmental disaster in the making for this species,” said one entomologist (who also happens to work for a company that specializes in ectoparasite control).

Will the noble pubic louse Pthirus pubis, which once grazed the rolling plains of our crotches in great herds, be driven into extinction? Do we need to erect habitat reserves for crab lice conservation in New Jersey? Will these insects that “swing from hair to hair” in our undergrowth someday only be known from medieval kings and mummies?

The short and curly answer is no, even with new evidence in a research paper that links hair removal to declining crab lice infection rates:

Pubic Lice: An Endangered Species? Dholakia, S., et al. Sexually Transmitted Diseases: 2014. Volume 41.  Issue 6: 388-391.

It’s good to know the general pubic is doing their job of habitat conservation to save this species for the enjoyment of our children and grandchildren.

Quote of the day—John R. Lott, Jr.

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I can’t find a single study from Bloomberg’s groups that aren’t loaded with errors. They have an anti-gun agenda and will lie to achieve it.

John R. Lott, Jr.
September 25, 2014
How Bloomberg’s Million-Dollar Desire For Gun Control Is Backfiring
[While I think there is a fair amount of lying going on they don’t think of it as lying. They just don’t understand facts are independent of their feelings. If they feel something then, in their view of reality, it is true. I’ve had people flat out tell me this. I would point out that what someone was saying was in direct contradiction to verifiable facts. And I would get a response of something to the effect, “Well, it’s true to them and that is what matters.”

There is also a very telling anecdote about liberal “research” in this same article:

In 2006 I was at a cocktail party in Arlington, VA, talking to a liberal journalist about his soon-to-be-released book on Iraq when John Lott joined us. John listened for a moment and then said to the author, “I’m curious. You say you just finished a book on the Iraq war. I always find it so hard to finish a book. I get so deep into the research I have a hard time stopping to write. I’m guessing you had a hard time leaving Iraq. There is so much to investigate and understand.”

The author said, “I didn’t go to Iraq.”

John paused with this quizzical look on his face before asking, “Oh, how did you do your research?”

The author said, “I didn’t have to do much. I mean, I already know what I think.”

Feelings versus facts. It’s a type of mental disorder.—Joe]

Psychology of mass shooters

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Via CGL Admin we have this is a fascinating article on the psychology of mass shooters: Everything We Think We Know About Mass Shooters Is Wrong.

The bottom line is that it isn’t so much that they are psychopathically evil but that they want attention and to be accepted so badly they are willing to kill other people to get that attention. This is consistent with other psychological assessments that say the media coverage of mass shooters helps create more mass shooters.

Another civil rights lawsuit

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It pleases me to see New York’s Governor Cuomo sued by civil rights group:

“The cartridge limit is arbitrary and serves no useful purpose other than to frustrate, and perhaps entrap, law abiding citizens who own firearms with standard capacity magazines that were designed to hold more than seven rounds,” said SAF Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, who founded the organization in 1974 and watched it grow to well over a half-million members.

“Several top law enforcement officials have already publicly stated they will not enforce provisions of this law, yet Gov. Cuomo and Supt. D’Amico are pushing ahead,” Gottlieb claims.

…

“The law is contradictory, in that it is legal in New York to possess magazines that hold up to ten cartridges,” Gottlieb said. “But the SAFE Act limits people to seven rounds, with some narrow exceptions. This amounts to virtual entrapment for anyone who loads more than seven rounds in a magazine for self-defense purposes.

“Magazines that hold ten or more rounds are in common use all over the country,” Gottlieb concluded. “This arbitrary limit essentially penalizes law abiding citizens for exercising their right of self-defense, and that cannot be allowed to stand.”

The Second Amendment Foundation’s media release is here. Donate to SAF here.

We are making progress. It’s slow and expensive but one lawsuit at a time we are putting these want-to-be tyrants in their place.

Quote of the day—Janice Wilberg

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There has been much talk lately about how gun violence is a public health issue and that, in order to fully understand its epidemiological dimensions, we need to do a dissection of each incident to determine the precipitating factors, the relationships, why and when the shooting occurred, get to the reasons that will explain the violence, the thinking being, I guess, that if we can figure out the reasons, then we can address the reasons and reduce the violence.

I don’t think there are reasons.

I think there are guns.

There are guns everywhere. Everywhere. You better believe it. Right now, in Wisconsin, people are walking around with guns in holsters like this is the O.K. Corral. The folks who went through a $50 concealed carry class walk around in a haze of superiority because their gun lust got sprinkled by respectable fairy dust. Two sides of the same coin to me, the guy who takes a class so he can put his new gun in a fancy holster and parade around town, his jacket artfully arranged so everyone can see that his gun is ready, real ready and the guy whose second or third hand stolen gun is wedged in the lowdown of his pocket; it’s a dick festival in either case. Call it what it is.

…

It’s not about the reasons.

It’s about the guns.

Janice Wilberg
July 13, 2014
Orbiting Zorkon: Gun Violence in Milwaukee
[It’s another Markley’s Law Monday! Via email from Bob S. who said, “really got my attention when she compared legal carry with criminals carrying stolen firearms”.

Yes. She thinks it’s about the guns. She thinks there is no difference between a good guy with a gun and a bad guy with a gun. Citation needed. But you know that isn’t going to happen because she goes all Markley’s Law instead.

She has crap for brains.

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

Boomershoot 2015 statistics

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Boomershoot 2015 is now half full:

  Total Average per position taken Average per total positions
Positions Taken 38 – 0.50
Participants 71 1.87 0.93
Friday Field Fire participants 11 0.29 0.14
Friday Clinic participants 6 0.16 0.08
Friday High Intensity participants 16 0.42 0.21
Private Fireball participants 0 0.00 0.00
Saturday Field Fire participants 29 0.76 0.38
Saturday Clinic participants 4 0.11 0.05
Saturday High Intensity participants 8 0.21 0.11
Dinner participants 37 0.97 0.49
Shooters 70 1.84 0.92
Spotters 1 0.03 0.01
Media/Bloggers 9 0.24 0.12
ATF Approved 12 0.32 0.16
Staff 24 0.63 0.32

Keep in mind this after the event has been open for entry for a little over a week and over seven months before the event. There are still positions open in every area so whether you want to shoot from the well drained ground on the berm, with a bench with room for a canopy, or in the .50 Caliber Ghetto you still have those options available.

There are still opening for Private Fireballs too. The smoke from these can sometimes be seen from over three quarters of a mile away. It’s tough to describe the intensity of the blast when you are 50 feet away. The phrase we hear about 75% of the time from first timers is, “Holy shit!”

Sign up here.

Quote of the day—Lyle

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Criminalization and confiscation is NOT the end goal. It’s just the beginning.

Lyle
September 26, 2014
Comment to Quote of the day—Star-Ledger Editorial Board.
[In other words the reason they want to confiscated the guns is because they want to do something that would be difficult or impossible to do if the general population were armed. I.E. their plans are so offensive to the sensibilities of ordinary people that those normally peaceful, law-abiding, people would be willing to use deadly force to oppose the implementation of those plans.

If their plans are that offensive then I’ll be keeping my guns. I’ll be encouraging others to keep their guns. I’ll be teaching new people how to shoot. I’ll be giving people an opportunity to practice using their guns in challenging situations. And I’ll be politically opposing those who want to restrict the specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms.—Joe]

Not getting it

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Either these people just don’t get why we have a problem with their gun control plans, they think they can sneak one past us, and/or (and there is evidence to support this hypothesis) they are just plain stupid.

Via CGL Admin we have A Promising New Approach on Assault Weapons:

Require background checks for all gun sales: This is a no-brainer. Background checks are fast, easy, and effective at keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.

Require dealers to report multiple sales of long guns: Since 1975, gun dealers have been required to report sales of multiple handguns to a single buyer—and there’s no reason that rule should apply to the sale of a few antique revolvers, but not to the purchase of dozens of military-style assault weapons.

Equalize interstate sales of long guns and handguns: CAP’s report offers a policy equalizer that even gun enthusiasts should support: allow gun dealers to sell both handguns and long guns to out-of-state residents, but require those sales to be reported to ATF and state police in the buyer’s home state.

Require federal firearms licenses for individuals that manufacture guns using 3D printers: We’ve long supported cracking down on guns created by 3D printers, and this is a fair—rather than punitive—way to do so.

Bar possession and use of machine guns by individuals under the age of 16: If there is anything to be learned from the horrible incident last month in which a 9-year-old accidentally shot and killed her shooting range instructor when she lost control of an Uzi, it’s that children shouldn’t have even temporary access to machine guns until they’re old enough to control them.

Require a permit for possession of assault rifles: This is the most innovative of the CAP proposals—a new take on keeping assault weapons out of the hands of dangerous people. Instead of banning these deadly weapons flat out, the report calls for a common-sense permitting process like those already required by most states to carry a concealed weapon.

All these proposals are unacceptable as they create victimless crimes. There is no victim in any of the things they want banned or restricted. That is bad enough but the glaring, no way, I won’t stand for it, obstacle from our perspective is that it creates a shadow registration system of guns and gun owners (maybe we can call this “ghost registration of guns”).This is unacceptable for the possession and use of religious materials protected by the First Amendment and it’s unacceptable for the exercise of the Second Amendment as well.

But what really has me thinking is that our opponents admitted there really weren’t that many crimes committed with “assault weapons” anyway. So banning them couldn’t possible do that much good. We were right all along! Then they almost immediately come back with a “new approach”. If the number of crimes committed with them were statistically insignificant then why do they need any “approach” at all? Why not just leave us alone?

Either they are incredibly stupid or they think we are. If they aren’t incredibly stupid then the reason they can’t just leave us alone is because those guns they want us to get permits for and register is because these guns are an obstacle to them in some way. If present day criminal use of these guns is not a problem then the problem must be some potential future use of the guns that is a issue for them. So what do they have planned that our possession of these guns would be a problem for them?

See also Dave Kopel’s article on the same topic.

Bomb help update

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Early this morning I received the following email (name and email changed to protect the guilty):

From: XXX YYY [mailto:xxxyyy@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, September 27, 2014 1:52 AM
To: blog@joehuffman.org
Subject: removal of blog post

Dear Joe, I would like to ask you to remove a blog post concerning me (https://blog.joehuffman.org/2011/06/05/can-he-really-be-this-stupid) relating to an old email address of mine while I was suffering badly from a nervous breakdown, depression, and various other mental illnesses due to prolonged physical  and psychological bullying. As I have moved on in my life now, I would like you to remove this post as it has many references to my name and email that has caused problems when finding jobs.

Thank you and kindest regards, XXX YYY

I didn’t remove the post but I did change the name and email address and sent him a polite reply wishing him well.

Quote of the day—Chuck Michel

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No one is going duck hunting when 5 percent of the ducks might shoot back.

Chuck Michel
September 25, 2014
Packing Pistols in Public Seen as Next Gun Control Battle
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]

Don’t be evil Google

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I had an technical issue with Google Wallet and contacted support. They helped me (and pissed me in the process—but that is a different story) and then asked for feedback on both the service and the product. This is the feedback I gave them on their product:

I generally like the technical aspects of the product and the low fees. However I do not like the terms of use forbidding the sale of firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition. The right to keep and bear arms is a specific enumerated right. It’s no different than the terms of use not allowing the sale of books, movies, anything associated with religion, or abortions. These are all rights protected from infringement by our government. Restricting access to rights such as these is what tyrannical, evil, governments do. Don’t be evil Google.

Random election thought

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The Dem election machine has been touting a massive database of voter information, allowing them to micro-target voters.  The early version was used by the Obama-bots in 2008, then a more refined version in 2012. It has incredibly detailed info on each voter.

Google and Facebook are operated by well-known lefties.

Speculation/question: How much of the incredibly huge and detailed amount of data that these two organizations collect on individuals could be / is funneled into a politically-driven marketing database that would help the Dems figure out the exact right email to send to get them to the pols?

Scary thought.

What are the more libertarian / conservative sources for similar purposes?

Just say “no” to liberal-owned data-mining companies.

Quote of the day—Star-Ledger Editorial Board

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The biggest problem with this approach, though, is that it tiptoes around the one reform that could really make a difference… Mandatory gun buybacks.

…

Do all the voluntary gun buybacks you want. But until they are mandatory, and our society can see past its hysteria over “gun confiscation,” don’t expect it to make much difference.

Star-Ledger Editorial Board
September 19, 2014
What N.J. really needs is mandatory gun buybacks
[H/T to Sebastian.

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

“Mandatory gun buyback.” What a way with words they have. It’s amazing how much deception they can pack into three words.

It isn’t a “buyback” if the buyer didn’t own the property at some previous point in time.

It isn’t a “buy” of any type if it is mandatory. It’s compensation for confiscation.

How is what they are proposing any different than a “mandatory First Amendment buyback”? I’d be interested to see their reaction to being told they were being compensated, say $10K, for their First Amendment “privileges” and then informed they were being hysterical when they complained. On their way to prison, of course, for violating the ban on free speech.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Rama Lakshmi

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India’s $72 million Mars orbiter is the cheapest interplanetary mission ever. Modi said that India’s Mars mission cost less than what it took to make the famous Hollywood space movie “Gravity.”

Rama Lakshmi
September 24, 2014
India becomes first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit, joins elite global space club
[If India had a more gun friendly political atmosphere I might consider moving there. They still have a lot of messed up political ideas, corruption in government, and religious/class/caste issues but as the United States crumbles it is on my short list of refuges if things get really bad.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Nicolas Maduro

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We are building peace from within, and for that, you need disarmament.

Let us chase after the dream, after the utopia, the utopia of a Venezuela in peace.

Nicolas Maduro
September 23, 2014
Venezuela’s Maduro launches $47M plan to disarm civilians
[How’s that dream chasing working out for the Marxists?

Private gun ownership in Venezuela was banned in 2012. Yet the country has the second highest murder rate in the world.

Venezuela is also nearing default on its debt, the economy is a disaster, people can’t get toilet paper and many other basic goods, and now they want to spend tens of millions of dollars to “build dozens of new disarmament centers for civilians to surrender their weapons”.

I can’t imagine people who failed to disarm two years ago are going to voluntarily show up at a “disarmament center” to “surrender their weapons”. The government is going to “build peace” by sending armed men out to round up those people who registered their guns.

Marxism never ends up in a peaceful utopia. But it is one of the most certain paths to a police state and massive human suffering.—Joe]

Male Dog Senator

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I get a lot of spam. First thing in the morning, and right before I shut down in the evening, I empty the spam bucket. I also empty it during the work day, so this evening I only had three messages in the bucket. I’ve gotten so I can filter out the rare legitimate message amongst all the chaff pretty efficiently. This time I did a quick glance at the first word of each title;
Male
Dog
Senator

Harmonic convergence. There are two kinds of dog senators. The attack dog Democrats, and the Republican dogs that only know how to heel, sit, stay, roll over and beg. Mostly beg. Republicans seem to think that they need my money to win elections, which is bizarre because in reality all they have to do is stand up for a few basic, simple principles. Doing that, they’d get so much attention from the hysterical media and the community organizers (but I repeat myself) that they’d never need to spend another dime on campaigning. We’d just see who’s getting attacked the most for starving children, making children fat, kicking old people out into the streets with no food or medicine, making war for oil, creating bad weather, handing free assault rifles out to kids in school playgrounds, destroying everything the left has worked for in the last hundred years and so on, and vote for them. Totally free advertizing, 24/7/365 on 100 TV channels, all the sports networks, and all radio channels at once. All the money in the world could scarcely buy that kind of promotion.

And for you in the NRSC; you’re pathetic. I can spot your ridiculous attempts to appear chummy, with your e-mail titles, in under 6.5 milliseconds, which means I can ignore a thousand of your pleas-for-money in six and a half seconds or less.

Quote of the day—Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

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The bourgeoisie is many times stronger than we. To give it the weapon of freedom of the press is to ease the enemy’s cause, to help the class enemy. We do not desire to end in suicide, so we will not do this.

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
[I haven’t found a convincing source for this so if someone has it or has reasonable proof it is false let me know.

Regardless of its source it does seem that the mainstream media is sufficiently on the side of the oppressors to be mindful of the apparent truth of this quote and does attempt to suppress our point of view.—Joe]