Barb thought this was particularly well done. I liked it too. The strong defense for private ownership of firearms is very well done. It’s a little conspiratorial in places but he did present the basics of “left” versus “right” being a limiting concept fairly well.
Quote of the day–Kristen Comer
As long as we allow an individual right to trump public safety, families are going to lose their loved ones.
Kristen Comer
Executive Director Washington Ceasefire
January, 2010
Press sounding ‘Taps’ over Kline legislation, hearing turnout could cinch bill’s demise
[Comer
is referring to the Second Amendment and the Washington State
Constitution protections of the right to keep and bear arms. But think
about that quote in terms of other specific enumerated rights–Include
the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Twenty-sixth Amendments. If someone is
willing to disregard and advocate the destruction of one guaranteed right why not another or all of them in the name of “public safety”? That mindset,
that opposition to freedom, is what I want exposed and politically
exterminated. I want membership in those type of organizations to be as
socially unacceptable as the KKK is today.
The famous Benjamin Franklin quote comes to mind.
I find it interesting that Comer’s blog
has not had an entry in over a year. Even when she was “active” it was
only about one post per month. A search of their web site for her name
reveals only one hit not a blog post–from 2008. And neither she nor her
title are list on their “About” page with other staff members. Has she
been muzzled? Are they demoralized? If it was “just” funding surely they
could maintain a blog. I manage to make at least one blog post per day
without any funding (the advertising here earns something like
$1/day).–Joe]
NRA Washigton State 2010
F-rated (by all gun organizations) Senator Patty Murray is vulnerable this year. Pollsters put her in a dead heat with Dino Rossi and the primary (Washington State is a little ‘different’) is another indicator of this.
The NRA is dumping resources on this race and you can help. Visit here for more details in the coming days and weeks.
He needs your comments
Portland Oregon mayor Sam Adams (how ironic) wants your comments on his plan to violate Oregon State’s preemption law and the Second Amendment:
- Impose a special curfew for juveniles who have been found by a court of law
to have violated gun laws. - Create new city crime of failure to control access to a firearm by a child
- Create new city crime of failure to report theft or loss of a firearm
- Increase penalties for possession of a loaded firearm in a public place
- Exclude people who have been found by a court of law to have violated
firearms use or possession laws from areas of the City in which illegal use of
firearms is markedly greater than other areas. Exclusions to be enforced
through arrest for trespass, but with many variances available for necessary and
non-harmful activities.
He wants your feedback by Friday September 3rd. You can review the draft code provisions here and email him at mayorsam@portlandoregon.gov.
Quote of the day–Michelle Obama
Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual.
Michelle Obama
February 18, 2008
YouTube video: Michelle Obama: “Barack Will Require You to Work.”
[There is more than a little truth to that statement. It won’t be by him “allowing” it. It will because he and his freedom hating associates were removed from power.
Recent polls indicate we are making decent progress toward the desired goals.–Joe]
Gun cartoon of the day
I don’t get this one. Is there some context that I don’t remember?
This is the last one I have for now. I think I can find some more but it may be a while before I get around to it.
Communists like Obama but hate guns
People’s World is a communistic propaganda organization:
The People’s World / Mundo Popular is a national, grassroots newspaper and the direct descendant of the Daily Worker. Published by Long View Publishing Co., the PW reports on and analyzes the pressing issues and struggles of the day: for workers’ rights, peace, equality, social and economic justice, democracy, civil liberties, women’s rights, protection of the environment, and more.
The PW is known for its partisan coverage. We take sides – for truth and justice. We are partisan to the working class, racially and nationally oppressed peoples, women, youth, seniors, international solidarity, Marxism and socialism. We enjoy a special relationship with the Communist Party USA, founded in 1919, and publish its news and views.
Since the first issue of the Daily Worker came off the press in 1924, our press has been in the battles of the U.S. working class and people’s movements. From the battles of the unemployed and the campaigns to organize the CIO, through the civil rights and peace movements of the 1960s and ’70s to the struggles that have given us the “new” labor movement, to the people’s upsurge that elected our first African American president, and now the growing movement for a progressive, people’s agenda – we’ve been there.
They seem to really like President Obama and think he is “brilliant“.
They claim opposition to gun control is the covert platform of the Republicans and are opposed to it:
Derail gun control. Pander to the National Rifle Association, white supremacist, and the “cowboy” element of society. Ignore the terror that illegal guns have wreaked in our inner cities.
Private property and capitalism are, of course, also a covert platform plank:
Religiocize Capitalism. Write it into the Constitution. Make private property, profit and exploitation a commandment from God.
When the people advocating a political philosophy responsible for over 100 million dead in the 20th century praises President Obama and is opposed to gun ownership and private property it sort of makes you think, doesn’t it?
Quote of the day–Jeff Knox
On July 29th, the new constitutional carry law in Arizona went into effect, removing all requirements that a lawful gun owner obtain permission of the state before carrying a firearm concealed.
Just as the folks from the Brady Center Against Guns and the Violence Policy Center had predicted, virtually everyone in the state has either been killed or seriously injured by gunfire in the ensuing two weeks, and drug and outlaw biker gangs are running rampant, since the police can no longer ticket them for unlicensed carry of concealed weapons.
In other news: Dewey defeats Truman, Elvis Presley is alive and Martian spacecraft have attacked New York.
Jeff Knox
August 19, 2010
‘Arizona reverts to Wild West! Blood runs in streets!’
[Yes, there is some exaggeration of the anti-gun position on constitutional carry in this commentary. But what isn’t an exaggeration is Jeff’s article is that any changes in the crime or accidental injury rate are not visible at a glance. And, almost for certain, even after a year or more any crime increase attributable to the changes in the law will be non-existent.
It boils down to people intent on committing violent crimes largely ignore laws restricting the carrying of weapons. The firearms restrictions were only obeyed by people who were no threat to society.
So, you have to ask, “What is the real reason for gun control laws?”–Joe]
Gun cartoon of the day
When has someone said having a permit is a guarantee of perfect behavior? Having a “permit for a gun” is no more a guarantee of perfect behavior than a drivers license is a predictor of perfect driving.
But if you were to read the VPC or Brady Campaign publications with their lists of people with permits that committed crimes you would think concealed carry permit holders were billed as perfect angels and they are disappointed to find out we are mere mortals–with a lower rate of crime than the general population and police officers.
Layers of Oversight
Heard on a local AM radio newscast this morning;
A Deary (Idaho) man charged with aggravated assault and unlawful discharge of a firearm into an inhabited dwelling.
The firearm was described as;
“…a three oh eight caliber shotgun.”
At first I thought maybe it was a combination gun and they just did a clumsy job of describing it, but no. They just got it wrong. I wonder how many people had to approve the copy before it aired, and how many other mistakes they’re making regularly that I wouldn’t notice so easily.
It’s like the talk show host I’d never heard of, but ran into briefly the other night. He sounded pretty good, like he knew what he was saying about relationships and politics, until he started talking about getting electricity from any point in space, from gravity. HE had the answer, which the oil companies had kept secret for generations! At that point you have to not only question everything he says, but seriously doubt it. It might not even be fair to cast doubt on all his human behavioral analysis based on his lack of understanding of physics. One can be well versed in one subject and ignorant of another, but it’s very hard to take someone seriously again after hearing such an ignorant bit. We all make mistakes, but wow. In the case of a news service, with reporters, editors and anchors, it’s a different story. Those proverbial Layers Of Oversight are supposed to catch these things.
It’s a start
A
Democrat Walks Into a Gun Range…
I object to her instructor starting her out with a “baby-Glock” in .40 S&W. A .22 pistol would have been better. But she does fine:
Shooting is fun, y’all. I am not even going to lie. It’s a visceral rush each
time you pull the trigger. But, really, it is terrifying. It’s an extreme
responsibility, and one that I wish people didn’t take so lightly.
I think more trips to the range are needed:
I’m still terrified, I still support gun control, strongly. I’ve never witnessed
one of these Baltimore murders, and I hope to God I never will, nor be a victim.But now I’ve asked the questions for myself and taken the time to do my
research. I hope others are able to do so. Don’t ever say you haven’t tried to
walk in everyone’s shoes.
And she shouldn’t worry so much about people finding out she is a Democrat.
Quote of the day–Sarah Brady
The defeat of Washington State ballot Initiative 676 is a disappointing loss for the state’s citizens, but the reasons behind it are clear.
…
Unfortunately, the NRA outspent the home-grown Safety First Campaign by more
than five-to-one and successfully scared many Washingtonians out of voting for
this life-saving measure. Safety First, which led the fight to pass I 676,
should be commended for standing up for what is right in the face of opposition
from the one of this nation’s most ruthless and devious special interest groups.
The NRA’s guerrilla tactics are the highest form of flattery. Since when
does the gun lobby have to work so hard to defeat a measure in so-called ‘friendly’ territory? Clearly, the tides are turning in the gun control debate.
More and more Americans, gun owners and non-gun-owners alike, are demanding
stronger measures to prevent gun deaths and injuries. I 676 may be dead, but the
gun control movement in Washington State and around the country is becoming
increasingly mobilized and potent. This is certainly not the last we will hear
from our friends at the Safety First Campaign or their counterparts in other
states around the nation.
Sarah Brady
Nov 4, 1997
STATEMENT OF SARAH BRADY RE: NRA’S BIG GUNS HOLD WASHINGTON STATE HOSTAGE TO
WEAK GUN LAWS
[See here and here (even though the NYT got a lot of things wrong) for more information on I-676.
Nearly everything in this statement is false. I participated in this campaign and spend many nights at “ground zero” (CCRKBA campaign headquarters in Bellevue) at a personal cost of $1/minute in take home pay (I could have been earning overtime at my high paying contract job).
The lies and distortions are as follows:
- The vote was 71%-29% against the initiative. Even the liberal Seattle Times and Seattle Post Intelligencer editorial boards came out against it. 71% of the voters were not disappointed. When only a minority of citizens were “disappointed” it is inaccurate to say the “state’s citizens” were disappointed.
- It had nothing to do with safety. It would have required gun owner licensing, training, firearm registration and, probably due to poor wording rather than intent, paperwork to transfer the gun back and forth if you let the guy in the shooting booth next to you fire a couple rounds. It was about putting barriers up to exercise a specific enumerated right recognized by both the Washington State Constitution and the U.S. Constitution.
- The NRA came to the game late. It was the CCRKBA that lead the fight and put up most of the early money. Private polls showed we were ahead in September before the NRA dumped their money into the campaign.
- Washington State was considered friendly territory to the anti-gun forces. Initial polling gave I-676 an easy win, something like 60-40 IIRC.
- When voters stomped the anti-gun people into the mud 71 to 29 that is hardly a difficult win. We put more money and effort into the campaign than we knew was required to maximize the margin. We didn’t want to repeat the fight the next year or in another state. We wanted them completely demoralized and a stake driven through the heart of those concepts. It worked. They didn’t try that again anywhere–contrary to Brady’s prediction.
But I do agree with Sarah Brady on one item. The tide did turn in the gun control debate.–Joe]
They say ‘Big Brother’–I say ‘Party Time’
Other bloggers say:
- Mad Rocket Scientist (Real damn scary)
- Robb Allen (Depressing quote of the day)
- Linoge (So how does one nominate organizations for the Big Brother Awards?)
I say it’s Party Time.
There are many, many other options. Here is just a very small sample:
If I could get some custom made they would say “TSA = A Security Theater”.
Big Brother wants to spends millions on technology that can be defeated by $20 worth of plastic you can by online.
I have had mine for several years. Do you have yours?
Congressional hearing on gun control
I usually am pretty well informed on these sort of things. But I didn’t hear about this:
National lawmakers were in Chicago
holding a Congressional hearing on proposed gun control legislation
today.The Closing the Gun Show Loophole Act would require
private sellers at gun shows to perform background checks before selling
firearms. Illinois passed a similar law in 2005.Jody Weis is
superintendent of Chicago Police. He says the law should be implemented in all
states.WEIS: It’s just common sense legislation. I don’t see how anyone
could say this is restrictive when we’re simply asking for a background check if
you’re going to buy a weapon. This is pretty simple to understand.
“Common sense” legislation that raises the price, demands you get government permission, and enables backdoor registration, for a specific, enumerated, constitutionally protected, right.
What do you want to bet the people at the “hearings” only heard what they wanted to hear? Who attended? I can only find the one reference to this hearing which is very short on who we need to vote against in the next election.
And since when do they hold congressional hearings in Chicago? If they are going to hold hearings someplace other than D.C. it’s not surprising they chose Chicago for their gun control get together. If they had held it in Idaho, Arizona, or even Washington state they would have had protesters.
Gun cartoon of the day
Quote of the day–Neal Knox
When the ‘reasonable’ Brady Bill was pending, we told the world that radical unreasonable gun laws were waiting in the wings.
We were called paranoid, at best, and liars, at worst–by HCI, Congress, the news media and even some of our fellow gun owners.
Yesterday, Sen. Howard Metzenbaum (D-Ohio), Rep. Charles Schumer and Handgun Control, Inc. proved us right by introducing their ‘comprehensive gun control’ package, H.R. 3932/S. 1886. It is European-style total people control.
It has every provision on the anti-gunners’ wish list short of a total handgun ban. They’re satisfied, for now, with a ban on merely some handguns–for it creates the total registration and licensing system necessary to make an eventual confiscation law work.
The same day Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen announced that they were using the ‘Destructive Devices’ section of the 1968 Gun Control Act to put the ‘non-sporting’ Streetsweeper, Striker and USAS-12 shotguns under the same registration and $200 transfer tax applicable to machine guns under the National Firearms Act.
Neal Knox
March 3, 1994
HCI ‘Kitchen Sink’ Filed
From The Gun Rights War, page 203.
[When someone, like Half-Truth Henigan, from the Brady Campaign (formerly HCI) says there is no “slippery slope” (see chapter three in Henigan book Lethal Logic) remind them of 1994 and what they helped introduce back then.
When some politician tells you the law they are proposing won’t be pushed to the limits and beyond remind them the Treasury Secretary declared some 12-gauge shotguns ‘Destructive Devices’ putting them in the same category as RPGs, Claymore mines, and Bazookas.
And, as I have said before about this book, you shouldn’t read it just before trying to go to sleep. There will be way too much adrenaline in your system for the next few hours.–Joe]
Not for law enforcement use
Notice anything interesting about the box of ammo on the top?
The ammo is showing up in Wal-Mart at prices equal to what I can reload it for (buying all new brass and my time is worth nothing).
At first I thought it was something along the lines of STI, Barrett, and Modern Ballistics regarding certain government entities. But that wouldn’t explain the restriction on ported barrels.
I’ve sent a query to Federal. If they get back to me I’ll post the response.
Update: I received the following response from Federal this morning:
From: Prodserv
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2010 8:10 AM
To: Joe Huffman
Subject: RE: Federal Premium – Ask the Expert FormThe bullets are “low cost” and thin-plated, the rifling can and will cut
the jacket material from the lead core of the bullet, those pieces of
jacket can escape from the ports in the barrel. When launched from the
barrel it is unknown where the jacket material will go and at the
shooter is one possible place.The Warning is the same (close) to that on the centerfire pistol caliber
shot shells as the pellets will act much like the copper fragments.Thank you
—–Original Message—–
From: Joe Huffman
Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 10:45 PM
To: Prodserv
Subject: Federal Premium – Ask the Expert FormJoe Huffman
P.O. Box 3745
Moscow ID 83843Can you explain why there is the notice on some boxes of ammunition:
“DO NOT USE IN FIREARMS WITH PORTED BARRELS OR PORTED RECOIL
COMPENSAORS.Not for Law Enforcement Use”
An example is here:
http://bit.ly/dmuwj2
Thanks.
NRA 2010 Washington State endorsements
I received this nearly a week ago but ended up being very very busy with a lot of travel and attending a wedding and procrastinated far too much.
I did use them for our own family voting in the primary. It should also be of use in the general election.
Before too long I expect there will be more specific things gun rights activists will be tasked with to make sure the legislatures receive the proper message this fall. I’ll be more responsive next time.
Gun cartoon of the day
Yes. There have been some school shootings. And seeing a scene such as the one depicted would be adequate justification for concern. The guns should be properly cased for transport.
What is lost on most people is the school shooting incident data before and after schools were made “gun free zones”.
Quote of the day–Mark N.
I’ve been here ten years and they have never had us dance in the parking lot before.
Mark N.
August 18, 2010
Explaining to an intern that should he get a job offer from Microsoft (he almost for certain will) it wouldn’t be fair to evaluate the future job requirements on this one afternoon’s activities.
[Mark is my boss.
It turns out we didn’t dance in the parking lot. We danced on the sidewalk.
It was an hour of attempting to teach 500 geeks about 20 seconds of dance steps and 15 minutes of filming. It went as well as could be expected. I suspect the only reason many of the guys tolerated it and stuck around is because the entire time it appeared the dance instructor was in imminent danger of a “wardrobe malfunction“.
If the video happens to make it to the Internet I was the guy in the back with the grimace moving out of sync to everyone else while wearing a Blackwater baseball cap and a t-shirt that said “There are very few personal problems that can’t be solved with a suitable application of high explosives.“–Joe]