Pushing them down the slippery slope

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My favorite Idaho gun lobbyist, AlphaMike, and I have been discussing pushing this bill for a year or more now. The bill creates a two tier concealed carry structure in Idaho.

The existing concealed carry license is pretty easy. It’s shall issue but the local sheriff can require proof of training. To the best of my knowledge all sheriffs in the state require the training. The training standard isn’t hard to meet and doesn’t even require any live fire. It also, at the sheriff’s option, may be issued to someone between the ages of 18 and 21.

The new license has enhanced training requirements, may only be issued to people 21 and over, and has a mental health check requirement.

I had not been a big fan of it. Constitutional Carry has more my inclination but AlphaMike had me about 80% to 90% convinced to go his route. His reasoning was that it would benefit more people to have the enhanced requirement license in addition to the existing license. Getting Constitutional Carry would be tougher and wouldn’t help that many people because the existing license was relatively easy to get. With the enhanced license people would get better reciprocity than what we have now. The “lax” training, potential for people under 21 to have the license, and no mental health check were blocking agreements with other states.

It passed the house 68-0-2.

What is probably most interesting about the bill is reported here:

Backers also hope these new permits convince Idaho school officials to allow their holders to be armed on school grounds.

We have a slippery slope and we plan to use it.

I’m now 100% convinced AlphaMike was correct.

PETA buys my hamburgers

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The ad you see in the right column under “BLOG ADS” which says, “SHOCKING: Meat Industries CAUGHT” is a PETA ad. They paid for a month which is enough for Barb L. and I to each have a really nice hamburger for lunch next week.

Gun Song – Jethro Tull – I Am Your Gun

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I’ve always been a Tull fan – I mean, how many rock bands have a lead FLUTE? Their songs usually say a lot more than “hey, baby-baby” ad nauseum.

Jethro Tull – I am your gun for some Friday tunage.

For those not familiar with the group – The lead guy (singer / flutist) is Ian Anderson. Jethro Tull, for whom the group is named, was an agriculturalist from the early 1700s. The group was so bad early on they had to keep changing names in order to get a gig at the same place twice. Jethro Tull was they name they had when it finally all came together for them, so they were sort of stuck with it.

The Stars Came Back -023- The tour

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Fade in

INT – Day – Tajemnica cargo hold

The hold is pitch black, except for the light of his flashlight, and an LED on the wall com panel.

Helton: Let’s really see what we’ve got.

He places his hand on the dimly lit comm/security panel on the wall, and stands in front of it.

Helton: Strom, Helton T, new owner and captain.

The panel lights up and scans his hand and face.

Ship AI: (voice is brisk, male, and military sounding) Present certification, please, sir.

Helton holds up the title to the panel. It is lit up, and the panel blinks. There is a long pause. Continue reading →

Quote of the day—Alan Gottlieb

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They should take a day off and visit the monuments at Lexington and Concord, and reflect on what prompted those colonists to stand their ground. It was the first time in American history that the government moved to seize arms and ammunition from its citizens, and it went rather badly for the British.

Beneath the surface many Americans are convinced that we may be approaching a point when the true purpose of the Second Amendment is realized.

Alan Gottlieb
February 5, 2013
Firearms ban also attacks the First Amendment
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]

The Stars Came Back -022- Allonia

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Cut to a close-up view of his head in profile as he looks around for a moment with his flashlight

There is a slight sound behind him. He feels the cold point of a knife on his neck.

Allonia: (OC) FREEZE!

[NOTE for non-screen-play familiar folks – “OC” means “Off Camera,” someone talking or noise or action that is something in the scene that cannot be seen on-screen. Could be stage left or right, could be over an intercom, or whatever. You can’t see the speaker, because they are “Off Camera”]

Camera view pulls back, and there is the blade of a chef’s knife against the back of his neck. He freezes, then slowly raises his hands.

Allonia:(OC) You are?

Helton: Helton. New owner of this ship. You?

Allonia: (OC) You don’t look like the owner I met a few months ago. Continue reading →

Quote of the day—Andrew Cuomo

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When people understand what the law is really about, and it’s not about taking their gun or a government intrusion on the Second Amendment, they’ll feel better about it.

Andrew Cuomo
New York State Governor
February 27, 2013
N.Y. gun law mandates magazines that don’t exist
[Do rape victims “feel better about it” when they find out their attacker won’t be prosecuted?

Governor Cuomo, this can and will be used as evidence against you at your trial.—Joe]

More on that Canton police freak-out

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The threats Joe’s been getting, along with much of the language coming out of the Progressives over many years, makes this look a little different to me lately.

Officer ‘Roid Rage didn’t come up with his attitude in a vacuum. It was given to him. He was molded, shaped and prepped for it. He was playing a role laid out for him in advance. An unwitting foot soldier in the war on American principles, a cell of one, he was merely expressing the feelings of millions of people, including, no doubt, many of his superiors.

When I first saw that video, I suppose I believed, without really thinking about it, that anyone who saw it would be disgusted with Officer ‘Roid Rage and want him out of law enforcement for the rest of his life, but now I know better. There are plenty of Americans, including most of those in the White House, who would see that vid and think; “Yes! That’s how it’s done! Right on! We need more of this, please.” In other words; it’s obvious that some people see government (and law enforcement) as an outlet for their anger. They typically won’t come right out and support such things openly of course. At least not most of the time– not in public. Most haters are chameleons.

This seems obvious to me now. It’s just that I haven’t thought of it quite like that until recently. If you have, well, I’m just now catching up to you. Carry on.

The Stars Came Back -021- Seeing Tajemnica

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Fade in

EXT – day – A graceful, streamlined, 50-passenger, mid-sized flier is knifing through the air above the “spaceport” of Adelaide, a wide and tan plain stretching below into the hills, blue sky above.

Aerial view following the flier as it descends towards the landing field, a small and dusty landing facility that is only barely a spaceport, with mountains in the background. There is a large central building, with 6 concourses radiating out from it. Along each concourse are 3 pairs of landing pads, small ones close to the center, larger ones outside. There are a dozen or so ships of various sizes and shapes on different pads. There is a road leading away from the end of the largest concourse, and going away from the other arms are much smaller roads leading to warehouses and various industrial areas. There are some smaller pads near some of the outbuildings, away from the main terminal, that have a collection of ship parts, wreckage, tarp-covered heaps, and smaller personal air-craft and space-craft. Near one of these smaller outbuildings is a squat, dirty, rectangular-ish, partially tarp-covered, very dusty craft that is all but unnoticed. The flier zips down, heading for one of the mid-sized landing pads. Continue reading →

Boomershoot article update

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There is a post up on the Western Shooting Journal blog promoting the Boomershoot article appearing in the March issue. You get to see a couple of the pictures that will be in the article and some reworded portions of the text.

Quote of the day—David W.

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Wait so, he requires you to have the guns, so he can shove them up YOUR ass?

He’s not going to bring his own guns or else he would say “I’ll shove my gun up your ass”.

So basically he is threatening someone, with guns, and the threat is to shove said guns up the gun owners ass…

Me thinks he is infinity fries short of a happy meal…

David W.
February 26, 2013
Comment to Another threat
[Barb L. and I were discussing, laughing, and shaking our heads at this very thing at the same time David W. was leaving his comment.

I was talking to AlphaMike about this nutcase as well. He said, “Obviously he has never met you or he would not have made any threats.”—Joe]

Another threat

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Today at 1408 I received another threating phone call. It sounded like the same guy as last time but it was from a different phone number.

The first time the phone number was 619-646-7526, this time it was 630-489-9064.

The call went very close to this:

Joe: Hello?
Caller: Is this Joe Huffman?
Joe: Yes.
Caller: Do you have any guns?
Joe: Who is this?
Caller: Do you have any guns?
Joe: Who is this?
Caller: I said, “Do you have any guns?”
Joe: And I’m asking who am I talking to.
Caller: You better own some guns because if you mess with me I’m going to f*&^king shove them up your ass.
Joe: <hangs up>

As Ry has said before, “Ah, the voice of reason.”

Or as Officer Dill said, “He is clearly irrational.”

This is the same number that was a “no answer” from an Illinois exchange at 8:26 AM the day after the threatening text messages.

I’ve received several “no answer” calls in the last few days but until now I wasn’t certain they were connected. Now I know that at least some of them are.

I also have to wonder if the brute force attack attempting to log into this blog this morning was related. I may have a way of answering this question.

Update: Apparently he followed up with a bogus ad on Craig’s List.
Update 2: I got the ad taken down.

The Stars Came Back -020- Card Game

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Fade in

INT – night – card table in a discreetly lit, respectable-looking entertainment establishment

Helton sits at a table with seven others. All are nicely dressed, somewhat steam-punkish general style, and there are a lot of chips on the table. Helton has the smallest pile, but it’s substantial. He eyes his cards, and the lone 10 of spades in the center of the table, and tosses in a pair of chips. The next person folds silently, and the next puts in two to meet, and raises by three chips of a different kind. There are murmurs from the handful of onlookers around them. Continue reading →

Night walk in the snow

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This past weekend Barb L. and I attended a community dinner for the area where I grew up. It has been over 35 years since I lived there so I didn’t know a lot of the people. But it was nice to see the ones I did know and catch up a little with them.

After leaving we stopped by the Boomershoot site to shoot a few tracers. It was way past dark but with a nearly full moon and the ground was covered with snow. Both the scenery and the tracers were really pretty.

After shooting the tracers we went for a walk on top of the hill where the 700 yard targets are placed. There is a great view from there. I took a bunch of pictures but they just didn’t capture what we experienced. “It’s magical!”, is how Barb described it. I’m not sure magical is quite right. Perhaps surreal.

Here are a few of the better, but still poor, pictures.

IMG_4175
IMG_4184
IMG_4186
IMG_4191

Graphics Campaign

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A reader sent these to me in regards to the anti-gun owner laws being proposed in Colorado.

candlesCo_dems_bloomberg
exum_hatefields_jail2
hickenlooper_magban5joe-salazar
john_morse-warulibarri_pen

I like the first one best.

This particular reader did not want even a hint of credit being given to them for fear they could lose their job. It sounds to me like someone has a boss that has a problem with diversity.

Quote of the day—Nuclear Unicorn

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But let us assume, for the moment, that gun control advocates are correct in their descriptions of gun rights advocates with monikers of “paranoid” and nuts”.

Why would the gun control advocates, who are presumably unarmed, willing to antagonize heavily-armed paranoid nuts who are on guard against gun seizures?

What do they do for an encore? Take ventriloquist lessons and hang out in rooms filled with schizophrenics holding sharp objects?

Nuclear Unicorn
February 2, 2011
A thread at the Democratic Underground.
[H/T to Cargosquid who sent me the link via email.

As Nuclear Unicorn further elaborates, “It’s either a really dumb plan of action or a wildly gross mischaracterization of the pro-rights side.”

But that’s only if you are thinking rationally. With most anti-gun people suffering from Peterson Syndrome rational thought is an empty phrase.—Joe]

Equal Gun Rights

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Great video from The Second Amendment Foundation:

See more and sign the petition here.

Letter to my representative

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“Regarding the gun issue (and all issues really); We who advocate liberty are getting tired of reacting to the Left’s latest outrages. Shouldn’t they be forced to react to our “outrages”? In that spirit, I call for a bill removing all firearm restrictions on the state level, and for ordering all state and local law enforcement to prevent any federal gun law enforcement in the state. In other words, uphold and protect the constitution you’re all sworn to uphold and protect.

How’s THAT for an “outrage”? Let’s see the leftists go nuts trying to pick that one apart, and get them to feel lucky if WE only get half of OUR way this time through.

See how this works?.

Sincerely,
[Me]”

Not that it’ll have a whelk’s chance in a supernova of doing any good. We’re dealing with Republicans after all. But it has to be said, if for no other reason than to be able to say we told them so, to give them a chance to do the right thing while they still have a chance.

Random thought of the day

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Saying the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep a firearm but not bear it outside your home or a gun range is like saying the First Amendment guarantees the right to purchase any book you want but not to read it.

The Stars Came Back -019- Recovery

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Fade in

INT – day – brightly lit, crowded and busy spaceport lounge

Helton and Harbin and a few of the other passengers from the pirate rescue are sitting around a long table with drinks and the remains of meals in front of them. The other passengers talk among themselves.

Harbin: It’s been a while since I had more action on leave than in the field. Felt good to be in a fight where the only rule was “WIN.”

Helton: Too bad about your getting shot, though. The leg seems to be healing nicely, no noticeable limp at all.

Harbin: Shouldn’t be. The Boss and the Wife both frown on getting damaged outside the line of duty. Continue reading →