Goodbye, Clarice

"Isn't it possible that we all have that bit of insanity in us?

"That's why I'm for gun control. Absolutely… I don't believe that people should have access to life-or-death situations at any emotional time in their life.

"I don't really believe that a human being who feels [things] should have the option at their fingertips." [More]

Jodie Foster takes all doubt out of what we speculated on earlier: She's not a smart person, but she plays one in the movies.

[Via Alphecca]

Inert, Expended and Discarded Tube Turned in at Gun Exchange

Police in the American state of Florida have been handed a surface-to-air missile launcher at a gun exchange.

Any bets its a 1-time-use only disposable rocket launcher, the kind with a 350 meter maximum range, about half that against moving targets, that it's not intended for surface-to-air, and is now just an inoperable tube?

Just asking. It's not like the "authorized journalists" have filled me with awe on their assumptions.

I wonder if having military ordnance could override the generally promised "no questions asked" policy? It'd sure be problematic if the Army--or whoever this was taken from--would send out investigators.

UPDATE: Here it is--



Anybody recognize it? The Orlando Sentinel says it's "designed to blow jets out of the sky."

"Willful" Disregard

"Our position is that laws are made by Congress, not bureaucratic agencies."

Unless that Congress is willfully neglecting its duties, the Judiciary is willfully ignoring the Constitution, and the "Vote Freedom First" Administration is willfully ignoring our rights.

If BATFU can redefine one word, what's to stop them or some other agency from redefining others? How does it go? Oh, yeah:

WAR IS PEACE; FREEDOM IS SLAVERY; IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH...

[More about Red's Trading Post from WarOnGuns]

Wayne Fincher Update-8/19/07

From Paul W. Davis:

I have updated the Raid page on the Militia website with the addition of the Appeals Court docket and the transcript of the July 3rd IFP hearing conducted by Judge Jimm Larry Hendren.

Relevant items on the docket are 12 through 19 as they pertain to Wayne's IFP status.

I have not yet updated the Trial docket as I have had other pressing issues. I am also slowed down somewhat due to recent surgery on my left arm.

[More about Wayne Fincher from WarOnGuns]

Judas Returns

Our old friend, the person claiming to be "Bob Ricker" has graced us with another comment post, to which I replied.

He refers us to the California Senate Committee on Public Safety analysis of AB 854, dealing with ...SHORT-TERM LOANS OF FIREARMS FROM FEDERALLY LICENSED MANUFACTURERS, DEALERS OR IMPORTERS TO CONSULTANT-EVALUATORS... and credits its passage to NRA.

Why? Well, because I was complaining about BATFU trying to be the arbiter of who is or is not an "authorized journalist," and the bill in essence does that, assigning to the California DoJ authority for deciding who qualifies to be a "consultant-evaluator."

I fear I may have played a small part in this. Some time back, I got a call from one of the editors at GUNS & AMMO, one I had not worked with during the time I wrote for them. He had assumed I was a lawyer, and wanted to know if certain proposals in the legislature would prevent his field editors from getting guns to test and write reviews on. I let him know I was not, and he wanted to know if I knew any firearm lawyers he could ask. I referred him to NRA/CRPA's attorney, Chuck Michel--even though I have some differences with them and their tactics--because he is a lawyer with in-depth knowledge of developing firearms-related bills and their legal impacts.

Perhaps that anecdote was just coincidental to this bill, but what remains is a situation where California now has "authorized gun writers," and we know from past experience that what starts there often metastasizes its way eastward.

But here's the thing, and I invite comment and analysis: If California was poised to ban all transfers without exception, does this bill represent a victory of sorts? Or would it be best to have all share equally in the pain?

By way of complete disclosure, I have a press card for the purpose of writing for a gun magazine. To date, I've never used it, although I have been approached to test some products by companies that don't realize I'm an opinionslinger, not a gunslinger.

That said, I'm of the opinion that no branch of government has any business telling free citizens which of them is authorized to be a journalist, and they certainly have no moral authority to limit which firearms anyone not in custody is free to transfer and receive from other sovereign citizens. I stipulate that my way does not produce a "political solution"--but won't hold my breath waiting for NRA's game to produce a real and lasting one either.

Does it make a difference? In practice, probably not, as I don't know of any manufacturer who would transfer a product to someone who has not established a professional reputation as an evaluator or writer. But it's the precedent of government dictating who it will recognize that concerns me.

And as for "Judas Bob's" motives in calling this to my attention? Unless and until I hear him decry this bill and demand that all citizens be free to receive firearms from manufacturers, I think he just wants to start a fight within the gun community, so he can get off on it from the sidelines.

We're the Only Ones Who Can Afford Tuxedos Enough

The former acting police chief of the Village of Tuxedo Park pleaded guilty yesterday in Orange County Court to pocketing money that should have been used for new police computers.

We looked in on the front-end of this story.

Funny. I wonder why this story doesn't talk about the missing guns.

[Via Declan]

[More from "The Only Ones" Files]

BATFU to Wyoming: "You Will Be Assimilated"

The state of Wyoming says the federal agency that enforces gun laws was wrong to reject a state law that seeks to allow people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence to regain their firearms rights in the state courts.

Now why would an agency that reports to the "Vote Freedom First" president do that?

This Day in History: August 19

August 19, 1779

American Raid on Paulus Hook (Jersey City), New Jersey

An American force consisting of 400 men and led by Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, who wins 1 of 8 medals awarded by Congress during the war, assaults the defensive positions of the British. Lee captures the position and the British losses are 50 killed and 158 taken prisoner while Lee’s losses are only very minor. American morale receives a major boost because of this action although Lee undergoes a court martial because several officers are jealous of his success. Lee is not only vindicated but also is praised for his actions by the court.