Ooops!

The FBI says it sometimes gets the wrong number when it intercepts conversations in terrorism investigations, an admission critics say underscores a need to revise wiretap provisions in the Patriot Act.

The FBI would not say how often these mistakes happen. And, though any incriminating evidence mistakenly collected is not legally admissible in a criminal case, there is no way of knowing whether it is used to begin an investigation [emphasis added].

Nordyke Cleared For Challenge

Gun enthusiasts were handed a legal victory last week, when a federal judge ruled they can argue that their free speech rights are violated by an Alameda County ordinance that bans guns on county property.

In a ruling issued Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Martin J. Jenkins cleared the way for a new First Amendment challenge to the 1999 ordinance.

What a twisted world. The courts don't recognize Second Amendment standing for individuals in California, so we need to contrive First Amendment arguments to get anywhere--the irony of this sad state of things notwithstanding, that's some pretty clever lawyering by Don Kilmer.

"Order and Authority"

New York Times columnist David Brooks on "Meet the Press," speaking about what people want in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:

I'd say what they want is order and authority, and if I were thinking of a candidate, in a way those would be the words I'd want my candidate to project.

The scary thing is--when speaking in raw numbers--he's probably right.

T-Rex Redux

Jed at FreedomSight has resurrected the discussion.

And, yeah, I did intend it to be a one-man weapon--the scenario has to be one-on-one-- where you live or die based on your decision.

WarOnGuns Voicemail: Two Seconds

I decided to give the Audioblogger feature a test run.

Fortunately it's the weekend, when site traffic slows down--so if this is a flop, not as many people will be there to point and laugh. I can find one mistake, but hey, at least I did the thing in one take and didn't say "uh." Plus, thanks to the miracle of duct tape, you can't hear the kids fighting in the background.

This commentary originally appeared in written form on GunTruths.com, and included an "Afterword:"

"Dennis Henigan of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence drops the ball in front of a roomful of reporters, while trying to prove the efficacy of Saf-T-Lok, a purportedly easy-to-use combination lock in the gun's grip. Henigan fumbles and fails to unlock the gun in a well-lit room with no intruder at the door... Finally disengaging the safety, he apologizes, 'Most people aren't as klutzy as I am.'"
-From "Lawyers, Guns and Money" by Matt Labash, The Weekly Standard, Feb. 1, 1999

"Again, I learned from Massad Ayoob what has become known throughout the self-defense industry as the Tueller Drill. To our amazement, everyone in our class demonstrated that any person, no matter his age or physical condition, can cover twenty-one feet from a standing start and plunge a knife into a target in an average of 1.5 seconds..."
-From "Armed & Female" by Paxton Quigley

Baxley's Latest Gun Law

In a nutshell, Baxley's bill precludes property owners, employers and businesses from enacting rules prohibiting people who lawfully carry guns -- for example, holders of concealed-weapons permits -- from keeping their gun in their car on company property, specifically the parking lot.

Anybody who violates that faces a third-degree felony.

We've had this discussion before here at WarOnGuns.

Citizen Disarmament Dominican Republic-Style

"Here you need to have your gun out so the criminals see it and retreat," said Jose Dia, a 33-year-old businessman who recently bought a 9 mm pistol in the capital of Santo Domingo.

So naturally, the government's answer to criminal abuse and violence is to disallow the law-abiding from carrying guns without "special authorization."

And surprise, surprise:

Earlier this year, a team of 300 police officers and soldiers began searching vehicles at checkpoints and stopping people carrying guns on the streets to ask for permits.

The team confiscates about 1,000 illegally possessed guns a month, Almeyda said. But efforts are hindered by rampant police corruption, he conceded.

"When a police officer tells me his gun has been stolen, I order an immediate investigation because he probably sold it," Almeyda told The Associated Press.

Goodness. You'd think you were living in a Third World hellhole like New Orleans.

A Pig For Mahbubur

NOVELTY pig calendars and toys have been banned from a council office — in case they offend Muslim staff...Councillor Mahbubur Rahman, a practising Muslim, backed the ban. He said: “It’s a tolerance of people’s beliefs.”

Yeah, you're real tolerant, Mahbubur. I'm about this close to posting your address and starting a Toy Pig Drive.

If the UK continues to "tolerate" this subversive nonsense, there'll be only one thing left to say about their culture:

D-d-dA-d-d-dA-d-d-Dat's all, folks!

[Thanks to Jim Peel]