Tuesday, April 29, 2008

A Hunter and Gun Owner

The gun industry should set its sights on a different target: certification.

It should develop and adopt a private licensing and certification program fashioned on the highly successful scuba diving industry model to provide safety, legal, and marksmanship training to all gun owners and users.
S'cuse me?

We have it. From many sources.
No diver may fill their tanks or take part in recreational or professional diving trips without first obtaining a certification card from one of these private organizations.

Oh, I see.

No. I don't consent to be ruled by a "private" group, either. But I see you've managed to start a subversive new meme. If nothing else, it ought to make things harder for "those people," at least the ones in poorer, more dangerous communities who try to live by the rules.

And, it'll no doubt discourage many "fence sitters" from buying guns and ammo--possibly people who could have saved their lives--say--you never did say how many deaths you'd find acceptable with your little experiment here, because every benefit does have costs, you know.

I'm assuming you also have plans for those of us who own some of the 200 million guns already in circulation? And you can't forget those who reload.

Hey, have you figured out the economic impact to gun dealers? You may end up shutting more of them down than BATFU!

Y'know what, Mr. Media Conglomerate Mucky-Muck? What if somebody thinks we ought to treat the First Amendment the way you want to treat the Second, and make sure every Beckett subscriber/magazine purchaser has to undergo private certification before they can buy your trivial bread-and-circuses products?

Anything else, "hunter and gun owner" Peter A. Gudmundsson?

"Helping to Reduce Gun Violence"

The technology alerts law enforcement officials to the location of gunfire within seconds with pinpoint accuracy, helping to reduce gun violence.
How? The shots have already happened. By going back in time?

We've talked about this before.

Let's do an experiment.

BANG BANG BANG

Now imagine how far away you could be in the two minutes "average time" Newark says it takes them to respond. And why on earth would we not believe a Newark police official?

"Currently ShotSpotter is deployed in more than 29 major U.S. cities," we are told.

Anyone got numbers to demonstrate a reduction in "gun violence" attributable to the system?

The word "fraud" comes to mind. But I guess when you're part of the problem, there's nothing to do but keep the con game going as long as you can find suckers to fall for it.

Flash to Freedom

Interesting flash movie on Liberty from ISIL.

[Via Ron W]

Global Profiling System

Honda has developed a crime rate detecting GPS that will search through local police records to alert drivers in real-time if they ever happen to drive by high crime areas...

Look for it to violate US anti-discrimination laws for only going off in certain demographic areas. I can imagine some places where you'd have to turn the damn thing off because it wouldn't shut up.

Just think though--once we all get our Real ID chip implants, and once all our guns are registered in a central database, and once all our guns are made "smart"--replete with "Only One"-controlled shutoff switches--what a wonderful world it will be!

GUN OWNER WARNING! GUN OWNER WARNING!

Sounds like "probable cause" to me...

A Two-Edged Sword

Two students attending Eagan and Apple Valley high schools were expelled last week after buying souvenir swords during a spring break choir trip in the United Kingdom.
So--do you think the outraged parents will organize and oust the board members? Good luck--most are controlled by the teachers' unions, and most parents don't care enough to get involved.

This is the kind of stuff that should give us pause when pointing out how far places like the UK have degenerated. We have no shortage of control freaks and people who won't stand up to them here.

[Via Jeffersonian]

The Oregon Trail

Flores said "Many of these people get CHL's because they are worried about their safety, whether it’s from a stalker, a case of domestic violence, or some other threat. Making their names, addresses and other records public might jeopardize their security.”

Good for Rep. Flores. I do wonder if legislation--assuming it passes--will override a judgment awarded under existing law: ex post facto 'n all that.

I still like this plan.

Here's my advice to snoops with a burning desire to know who has a gun:

Assume we all do. Conduct yourself accordingly and there shouldn't be any problems.

And by "snoops," I also mean the ones originally intended to secure the blessings of liberty. Why anyone thinks it's any of their business is beyond me, and this situation is only possible because gun owners made a special effort to put themselves on a list--one government controls and can access any time they want.

[Via Jeffersonian]

Playing the Percentages

With one gun shop in Madison, another on the way in Franklin and his own custom gun manufacturing business, Uselton says he’s proudly “150 percent behind the Second Amendment.”

Uselton is especially fond of the phrasing at the end of the amendment, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

...But there’s one issue where Uselton breaks the party line and that’s on the topic of perceived lackadaisical laws surrounding sales at gun shows.
Whenever I hear anyone claim more than 100%, I think about this, particularly 103%.

And here's a guy who scores 118%:

“The place is crawling with ATF and TBI agents,” Goodman said. “At my shows, I’ve got a booth for the ATF...
While this fellow here has a better grip on the top number possible, you have to wonder if he understands what the upper limit really means:

Santos said while he is "100 percent behind the Second Amendment," he also supports the new measure.
[Via Charelton Hest]
[Finger on trigger observation thanks to Theaton]

This Day in History: April 29

All the ministerial intelligence concerning us is false. We are a united, resolved people, are, or quickly shall be, well armed and disciplined; our smith’s and powder-mills are at work day and night; our supplies from foreign parts continually arriving. Good officers, that is, well-experienced ones, we shall soon have, and the navy of Great Britain cannot stop our whole trade. our towns are but brick and stone, and mortar and wood. They, perhaps, may be destroyed. They are only the hairs of our heads. If sheared evere so close, they will grow again. We compare them not with our rights and liberties. We worship as our fathers worshipped, not idols which our hands have made.