Quote of the day—L. Neil Smith

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I also declare that, like murder, crimes against the constitution have no statute of limitations (and never can, owing to the matter of conflicting interests involved). Those in the school system who smugly believe it’s smart or cute to strip away childrens’ rights for the sake of administrative convenience (or plain old sadistic pleasure) will someday face those former children in a jury box, possibly in a small town in Pennsylvania that will lend its name to the Nuremberg II tribunals.

L. Neil Smith
October 14, 2007
And Sow Salt on the Ruins
[It’s a really, really small town. But the sweetness of the name and the location, a little over 100 miles from Philadelphia, give it great weight in the venue selection.

H/T to Paul Koning in the comments.—Joe]

ITAR update

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Last May I told of the risks posed to us by International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).

Yesterday I received an email from a friend who is a NRA Instructor who had concerns about the implications. He wanted more information so I had a long chat with my “source” last night. He is a lawyer and he got the advice from another lawyer to “Not get involved.” This is a very risky area. When Hillary was head of the State Department there wasn’t a problem. But with Kerry things changed.

He contacted the Department of State and asked about Basic Firearm Safety training. He wanted to know if this was considered regulated under ITAR. The answer came back, “Yes.”

The law, as written, is very broad. Strictly speaking; telling a foreigner the NRA three safety rules could be construed as a felony. All firearms are considered munitions and cannot be exported without a license. Hence telling someone how to load the magazine of a Ruger Mark III is training someone on the use of export controlled munitions.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/22/120.10
http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/22/120.16
http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/22/120.17

The advice is to not teach foreigners anything about firearms. This is also the advice from the NRA. From the NRA Instructors website:

NRA cannot provide any assistance in training foreign persons due to conflicting information from the U.S. Government regarding regulations pertinent to foreign persons and arms training. NRA cannot process any requests for assistance in training foreign persons. In view of the above, we regret to inform you that NRA cannot renew NRA firearm trainer credentials for any foreign national.

This is not good.

But what is “a foreign person”? My source emailed me the following “cheat sheet” to answer the question:

Status

 Can Possess? Can Train?

US Citizen or National (not otherwise prohibited)

 Yes Yes

Permanent resident (Green Card)

 Yes Yes

Tourist visa or waiver

 Yes No

Non-immigrant visa (H-1B,  J-1 etc.)

No No

Non-immigrant visa with valid hunting license or admitted for lawful hunting or sporting purposes

 Yes No

I reported back to my friendly neighborhood NRA instructor, he replied with more than a little concern and anger about the situation and then I watched as the hits accumulated on my web page from last May.

As my source told me last night, “I used to think we would all be sent to prison because DMCA violations. Now I think it’s going to be because of ITAR.”

Significance of police gun sales

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Jersey City is attempting to get gun and ammo manufactures to help in their malicious attempts at infringing upon the specific enumerated right of the people to keep and bear arms.

But how significant is the police market? Do manufactures have a significant incentive to participate in this attempt?

Facts:

NICS checks (a proxy for private citizen gun sales):

  • 2011: 16,454,951
  • 2012: 19,592,303.

     

    Firearms in 2011:

  • Manufactured in the U.S: 6,541,886
  • Exported: 296,888
  • Imported: 4,844,590

     

    Approximate number of state and local police officers with arrest authority: (2008 appears to be the most recently available data) 800,000.

    Assumptions:

  • Police firearms include handguns, rifles, and shotguns and one firearm is purchased for each police officer every year. Resulting in each firearm being replace every three years.
  • One fourth of all law enforcement officers participate in the attempted infringement.

     

    Analysis:

    Using the given facts and assumptions the participating agencies would account for annual sales of about 200,000 firearms.

    The net new firearms supply in the U.S. is about 11,000,000 (U.S. manufactured plus imported minus exports).

    Private citizen sales, including used guns, is something on the order of 16,000,000 to 19,000,000 per year. Therefore civilian sales are a major portion of the total new firearms sales.

    The “back of the envelope” estimate is that even using the optimistic assumption that a fourth of sales to law enforcement officers would contribute to the infringement that would only account for less than 2% of all new gun sales.

    Any manufacture which considers going along with this will also give extremely serious consideration to the effect on Smith and Wesson when they collaborated with the enemy.

    Conclusion:

    Jersey City attempts to push manufactures into assisting them in their attempts to infringe upon the rights of the people to keep and bear arms will be ignored, if not actively rejected, by firearm and ammunition suppliers.

    Whoever thought up this screwball plan did not do, or is incapable of, simple arithmetic involving easily available data. But one should not be surprised. We know these people have mental problems.

    • Fair weather defense

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    Last time I went out shooting it was a beautiful, sunny day. Granted, it was nine degrees Fahrenheit and very windy, and my fingers were going numb to the point where I could barely load my guns, but hey; sunshine and beauty.

    There’s a lot of discussion about shooting in adverse conditions under stress, and then there’s also a lot of talk that goes along the lines of, “Hey I got this fabulous new gun, but I’ll have to wait ’till Spring before I can try it out.”

    For seven months of the year, there is a real possibility of snow on the ground here, and more so as you get higher in elevation. Maybe your practice should be around 7/12 cold weather practice in places like this then. You may find that your gun(s), which functioned well at 70 degrees, will start behaving in strange ways at zero and below.

    Remember Washington’s crossing of that icy river on that snowy night to attack the Hessians at Trenton? Yeah. That kicked ass.

    Do you know what it’s like policing your brass in three feet of snow on snowshoes while carrying all your gear on your person? Have you dropped a warm magazine in the snow when it’s zero degrees out? Yeah; it’s out of operation ’till you can warm it up and get the ice out of it. How does that slick new pistol hold work out when you’re wearing a heavy coat and standing on uneven ground on ice? What does your super bright flashlight do for you in a blizzard? What happens to the effectiveness of different types of batteries when they get very cold? Should you attempt to shoot while wearing gloves, or no? What do you do when snow falls out of a tree onto the exposed action of your rifle? What happens to the effectiveness of your optics at 10 degrees when you happen to breathe onto the ocular lens? Can you even turn the zoom control on your scope?

    Next time it’s snowing, windy, very cold and dark, maybe consider it an opportunity for some good shooting practice. If you enjoy the warmth and comfort of home on a stormy winter’s night, just think of how much more you’ll enjoy it after some good shooting practice.

    Gun Song – I Shot The Sheriff by Eric Clapton

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    A classic, live version. Originally by Bob Marley, but Clapton made the biggest cover of it. More about it here.

    Quote of the day—J.D. Tuccille

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    The end result of pushing through gun laws that people won’t obey is very predictable. You end up with a society in which people continue to own vast numbers of weapons regardless of the law. Connecticut may be on the way, sometime after the new year’s registration deadline, to turning itself into a replica of Germany, where up to 20 million unregistered firearms are held in addition to 7.2 million legal ones, or France, where as many as 17 million illegal guns overshadow 2.8 million legal ones.

    If you bother to learn from history, it shouldn’t be a surprise that people stop caring whether they’re “not a law-abiding citizen” when they lose respect for the law and the people who inflict it on them.

    J.D. Tuccille
    December 3, 2013
    Connecticut Shouldn’t Be Surprised That “Fewer People Than Expected Have Registered Weapons”
    [H/T to Sebastian.

    I expect the registration rate in Connecticut will be much lower than that in either Germany or France. And if you could get a police officer to talk to you about the “benefits” of the registration be prepared for a 10 minute profanity laced rant about how it makes their job more difficult. People that used to cooperate with police will now regard them as suspect and the enemy.—Joe]

    Basic Tajemnica video

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    Over at The Stars Came Back I posted a simple AVI that Paul put together of Helton’s first walk through of Tajemnica. He’s been playing with modeling it, doing some various graphic things. May post the “outstanding training value” image sometime soon, too. Getting nearly done with editing (yeah, I’ve said that before, I mean it this time).

    Markley’s Law in Playboy

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    This is in the 2014 Jan/Feb issue of Playboy magazine (page 238):

    WP_20131212_001

    As Barb said when I showed it to her, “I can barely get the joke.”

    Could it be they actually think in those terms and it make sense to them?

    Via email from Jay F. who says, “Perhaps the antis really are addicted to this sort of thing.”

    Small goals from small minds

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    I received the following email from CSGV which gives us insight into just how small their support base is. $3000 after a week of fundraising? And a goal of $10000? Wow!

    If the contributions were the suggested $20 then that means they have about 150 people who were willing to support them with actual money as opposed to just pressing the “Like” button on Facebook. Boomershoot attracts that many people who travel hundreds or thousands of miles and spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars to participate.

    Even though I am far from an expert on the subject I know they are totally clueless about writing a fundraising letter. But what do you expect from people who are totally clueless about the people and culture they want to destroy?

    Small goals from small minds.

    Continue reading →

    I fear for his job

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    Paul Barrett and I have a friendly but somewhat strained “relationship”. But today he wrote something I completely agree with. That he works for Bloomberg means I fear for his job. From his article in Bloomberg Buisnessweek, Why Gun Control Is Basically Dead:

    Dispassionate observers must question the simplistic liberal slogan that more guns equals more crime. The U.S. has seen a two-decade period during which private gun ownership has continued to soar (some 300 million firearms are now in civilian hands), while crime has diminished.

    …

    The strategy adopted by well-meaning activists post-Newtown may undermine their cause. Consider Moms Demand Action, which is allied with Mayors Against Illegal Guns, an organization started by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg Businessweek parent Bloomberg LP). Watts, the Moms leader, describes her campaign as “a war for the culture.” She talks about firearms as a symbol of an America she doesn’t “recognize.”

    Watts is fighting on the NRA’s preferred battlefield. Gun rights organizers have become expert at framing any gun control proposal as an attack on their culture. In a Dec. 6 “grassroots alert” to members, the NRA sounded its usual theme that President Obama and gun control backers push an agenda seeking to “fundamentally transform America” and will “exploit any occasion, no matter how crassly, to promote it.”

    Gun control advocates often appear not to appreciate that their country, for better or worse, has a widespread and deeply rooted gun subculture that isn’t going away. No lesser body than the Supreme Court, in decisions issued as recently as 2008 and 2010, has interpreted the Constitution as enshrining that reality.

    Barrett has spent a lot of time associating with gun people. It would be a stretch to say he is “one of us” but I think it is fair to say he understands and respects us while only partially agreeing with us.

    This understanding, his Harvard law background, his living in New York City, and his calm, cool approach means he has a better view into the political and culture gun rights war than most. That he says “gun control is basically dead” is a very good sign we are winning the war more than just superficially.

    The setup, the pitch, and… WHACK!

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    Home run!

    “The nationalized preschool promoters, led by feckless bureaucrats who piled mounds of debt onto our children with endless Keynesian pipe dreams, claim that new multibillion-dollar “investments” in public education will “benefit the economy.” But ultimately, it’s not about the money or improved academic outcomes for Fed Ed. The increasing federal encroachment into our children’s lives at younger and younger ages is about control. These clunkers don’t need more time and authority over our families. They need a permanent recess.”

    I was just telling my daughter on the way in this morning that you need to look past the authoritarians’ rationalizations, dismiss them out of hand, and look instead at their behavior and results over time. Then you see the disease for what it is. Malkin is exactly right; they need a permanent recess.

    Quote of the day—Keri L (@ikeriover)

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    @JoeHuffman @linoge_wotc that’s a backwards argument. I own guns to kill people with guns. *facepalm*

    Keri L (@ikeriover)
    December 11, 2013
    In response to “Defense of innocent life is why I own guns.”
    [Then why do the police have guns?

    The lack of rational thought process in these type of people has me convinced they have a mental disorder. Further evidence is that this tweet of mine:

    If you believe no one is trying to take away our rights then you aren’t paying attention: https://blog.joehuffman.org/category/gun-rights/no-one-wants-to-take-your-guns/.

    Resulted in a response from her of:

    if you believe that it’s OK to gun down little children… you both need your head checked.

    I’m very familiar with this sort of thought “process”. Apparently they imagine, and truly believe, you said or wrote something other than what you did. There was a case where I went through an email line-by-line with a certain person and ultimately they agreed I didn’t say what they claimed I said. Then mere seconds later they again made the same false claim. Pointing out they just agreed I didn’t say that resulted in a claim that they didn’t mean it when they said it. I went through this process three times with the same result each time before I finally gave up in extreme frustration.

    Mental problems. I’m completely convinced of it.—Joe]

    Mugme Street news

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    As I have mentioned before Barb refers to a street close to where I work as “Mugme Street”. It’s a pretty rough place at times:

    A man sustained minor injuries after a group of women assaulted him and stole his wallet while he waited for a bus downtown.

    …

    Seattle Police officers responded to the scene, assumed control of the incident and investigated further. The victim told officers that he was waiting near the bus stop at 3rd Avenue and Pine Street to catch a bus home. A female suspect approached and asked him for a cigarette. The victim declined to give one to her. The female suspect got angry and began striking the victim with her fists. Some of the suspect’s female friends joined in on the attack and then stole the victim’s wallet from his backpack before fleeing the area on foot.

    One block away is Westlake Park with more criminals as Seattle Police report:

    Two men are now in custody after detectives identified and located the suspects wanted in connection with Friday night’s robbery of a First Hill gas station.

    …one of the suspects, an 18-year-old man, was observed by officers as he was walking through Westlake Park.  He was taken into custody and interviewed by robbery detectives.

    Tell me again that it’s safe here and people don’t need to carry tools to defend themselves.

    Quote of the day—Thomas Sowell

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    If you believe in equal rights, then what do “women’s rights,” “gay rights,” etc., mean? Either they are redundant or they are violations of the principle of equal rights for all.

    Thomas Sowell
    November 26, 2013
    Random Thoughts
    [I have nothing to add.—Joe]

    Ammo for 3-D printed guns

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    The plastic guns being made have been tested with conventional ammo intended to be fired in conventional guns. Why not load up some low pressure rounds specifically intended to work with the plastic guns?

    Even if the bullets had muzzle velocities half that of conventional guns you aren’t going to get volunteers to be bullet backstops. Choose a common cartridge which already has a fairly low pressure then tweak the bullet weight and powder charge to get something that the plastic is much more capable of handling.

    Here is a list of max pressure recommendations in PSI for various cartridges with the obvious high pressure cartridges removed:

    380 Auto 21,500
    25 Auto 25,000
    32 S&W Long 15,000
    38 Auto 26,500
    38 S&W 14,500
    38 Special 17,000
    44 S&W Spl 15,500
    45 Auto 21,000
    45 Colt 14,000

    Quote of the day—Anonymous Reader

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    The truth about the average American gun owner is that he is a slobbering fundamentalist alcoholic who would rather shoot you dead than shake your hand. These are people that would rather commit acts of terrorism against their homeland than work within the legal confines of the system to get their message out.

    Anonymous Reader
    July 26, 2001
    The Terrible Truth About Gun Owners
    [Imagine what they think “the government should do” about “the average American gun owner”.

    These are very dangerous people.—Joe]

    Waiting periods fail scrutiny

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    Via Calguns Foundation.

    Calguns is challenging the law requiring a waiting period before taking possession of a firearm you have just purchased. The California AG, Harris, moved for a summary judgment dismissing the lawsuit. The judge slapped her down. A waiting period for someone who already owns a gun just doesn’t making any sense. The only reason for such a requirement must be to place a burden on the exercise of a specific enumerated right. If that is the only reason then the law is unconstitutional.

    The complete decision is here.

    The conclusion which makes me smile is:

    Harris moves for summary judgment on each of the claims alleged by Plaintiffs. With respect to the Second Amendment claims, Harris has not sufficiently met her burden. Harris has not presented sufficient evidence to show that the WPL passes either intermediate or strict scrutiny for either the “background check” rationale or the “cooling off period” rationale. With respect to the Equal Protection claims, Harris has focused exclusively on rational basis scrutiny. However, Harris has not adequately demonstrated that rational basis scrutiny is appropriate. Therefore, Harris’s motion for summary judgment will be denied in its entirety.

    The lawsuit challenging the waiting period will now go forward. It doesn’t means that the waiting period has been struck down, yet.

    Sebastian has his own comments.

    Simple homemade gift

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    I hadn’t done any reloading in a couple years so it felt really good to crank out a few hundred rounds. My last rife reloading was done in 2001.

    The picture below is a sample of the result. It is a gift for a friend. It was simple, shiny, and you can’t buy it in stores:

    WP_20131209_001

    Plus it should give the anti-gun people heartburn.

    See also this video:

    Quote of the day—rich roberts ‏@boris3324

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    @linoge_wotc Keep projecting #NRAdicklesswonder

    rich roberts ‏@boris3324
    Tweeted on May 16, 2013
    [It’s another Markley’s Law Monday via a Tweet from Linoge!

    This was in response to:

    Linoge@linoge_wotc

    It’s intriguing how fascinated #guncontrol #extremists like @boris3324 are with other men’s genitalia. Not terribly polite, that.

    —Joe]

    If it were only true

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    20131207_dems

    If it were only true for 98% of the politicians in Washington I’d be much happier about our political situation. As it is I am incline to believe we would be better off if the people we sent to Washington were chosen at random or maybe even the ones who tried hardest to avoid going.

    Via Tyler Durden.