Disappearing Act

The marks will be hustled and the snake oil supplies depleted (until they can make up a new batch for the next show). But here's what they'll be doing with the hidden hand as our attention is redirected by their stage moves and incantations: They'll make liberty disappear a little bit more. They'll reinforce the hypnotic suggestion that the average person is just too untrustworthy and incompetent to keep and bear arms, and that they, the ruling class and their enforcers, are the "only ones" qualified to possess them.

Today's Gun Rights Examiner column explores a dark magic trick.

E-Tyranny v1.0

Officials emphasized that the use of the new software is voluntary and that the data entered on the form are not being used to create any sort of government database of gun ownership.

Yeah, I believe that. Why wouldn't I?

This isn't the software BATFU...uh...ripped off from a private developer, is it?

A couple things stand out at first glance:


As long as the feds are going to racially profile, does it seem that one group might be conspicuously absent in this post 9/11 era of the War on Terror/ Homeland Security? Oh wait, my mistake--Pacific Islanders are there...


...and apparently filling out a dot is acceptable on the e-form, but entering "Y" or "N" on a paper form is a "willful violation."

Still, we can't entirely discount the benefits of technology. F'rinstance, I can't wait to purchase my tickets to the next Good O' Boys Roundup online...

I Dunno...

Storing firearms in a gun safe is a highly effective safety measure and acts as a crime deterrent as well. But typical gun safes are large, plain and boxy - not suitable for living rooms, offices, or bedrooms. Stealth Vault gun safes are practical and fashionable, designed to be indistinguishable from ordinary furniture.

The text above is from a PR Newswire release--for some reason Blogger won't link to it--even using TinyURL.

Anyway, I don't have a use for it, but being on record that there is no one-size-fits-all approach for everyone, I can't sit here and pretend you won't.

If I were a burglar and couldn't open a locked drawer, I might reckon it contained something of value and just take the whole piece of furniture with me to break open later.

Success

Last night the new range proposed for Woodbridge was approved by a 7 to 1 vote by the Prince William County Board of Supervisors (BoS)!

Frank J. Principi really sounds like an...well, don't tell me, tell him.

[Via Jeffersonian]

We're the Only Ones Uniform Enough

He was still in uniform and driving a squad car...

When confronted, Boyle initially denied being in uniform.

“I was in plain clothes. I did not have my badge with me. I did not have my gun with me. I did not have anything other than shorts and a T-shirt and my personal car,” Boyle told Deputy Paul Barta during an interview.

WarOnGuns correspondent Mack H calls my attention to an element missing from yesterday's observations.

Lying to the "authorities" in the course of a criminal investigation is a crime--at least, of course, for non-"Only Ones."

We're the Only Ones Sorry for Your Loss Enough

A North Carolina sheriff's official has apologized for plunging a funeral into chaos when undercover agents tried to arrest the dead man's son—and used a Taser on him in the process....

Relatives said two deputies dressed in coats and ties grabbed Russ and kneed him in his back before Tasering him. One deputy's gun fell out of its holster.

Because being an "Only One" is such a grave responsibility...

[Via Tom Z]

We're the Only Ones Paying Off Enough

The city of Los Angeles would pay nearly $13 million to immigration protesters and bystanders injured by Los Angeles police officers during a melee at MacArthur Park last year, according to sources familiar with a tentative settlement reached by both sides.

Meanwhile, not only are LA's "Only Ones" worse than useless at preventing violent crime (they encourage it by enforcing citizen disarmament), they say they don't have enough money to investigate ones that already happened.

We're the Only Ones All Fired Up Enough

A newly elected constable was questioned by sheriff's deputies after allowing a friend to fire his county-issued handgun into the air at a party...

The constable and the homeowner appeared to be drunk...Neither man was charged.

Naturally. And it's nice to see the "Authorized Journalists" at the AP continue to run interference for the police state by not disclosing the offending "Only One's" name.

No matter, KDBC 4 News is on it:
...Jose Maldonado...

And get this--he's a Republican...

Who replaced a corrupt Democrat:

Cameron County Precinct 1 Constable Saul P. Ochoa will spend the next 57 months in federal prison. The convicted constable was sentenced this morning in U.S. Federal Court for selling marijuana confiscated in drug seizures.

Which apparently is the type of law enforcement they want down there, because Maldonado beat the known thief by less than 400 votes. Is it safe to assume that if you're dealing with a "lawman" in that part of the country, you're dealing with a criminal, and your safest course might just be to repel them?

Here's the responding deputy's report. How nice to see such professional courtesy. He records "bloodshot eyes, slurred figure of speech [sic], unsteady balance and a very strong odor of alcohol emitting from his breath," and then says "I was not going to relinquish [sic] his weapon because he was a peace officer with the county and needed his weapon for work."

Perhaps I'm being unfair, and am just jaded by too much exposure to stories about police corruption. Perhaps Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio can restore my faith in justice for all, with no special privileges and immunities for those entrusted with a badge.

Why don't we see?

As soon as I post this, I'm going to add its url to this email and send it off (click to enlarge):



Naturally, I'll post any response if I get one.

BATFE Loses in Court Again

It was a tough fight, but the Elliot family's American spirit and a true grit won the day. We encourage you to listen to our latest Talkin' to America interview with Leonard Elliot and learn more about protecting yourself against the "GovCrims".

JPFO gets a first-hand account of the Bacon Creek Gun Shop outrage.

I'm listening to the interview as I post.

[Via Ron W]

From the Department of Pre-Crime

Fewer than 1% of airline passengers singled out at airports for suspicious behavior are arrested, Transportation Security Administration figures show, raising complaints that too many innocent people are stopped.

True, but you have to admit authoritarian fear tactics are pretty successful at achieving obedience and compliance--at least from the "law-abiding" segment of the population...

And I wonder how many of that "fewer than 1%...arrested" are detained and fined for expressing outrage at arrogance and bullying by authoritarian punks on a power trip?

This Day in History: November 20

The Continental Congress regularly received quantities of intercepted British and Tory mail. On November 20, 1775, it received some intercepted letters from Cork, Ireland, and appointed a committee made up of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Johnson, Robert Livingston, Edward Rutledge, James Wilson and George Wythe "to select such parts of them as may be proper to publish." The Congress later ordered a thousand copies of the portions selected by the Committee to be printed and distributed. A month later, when another batch of intercepted mail was received, a second committee was appointed to examine it. Based on its report, the Congress resolved that "the contents of the intercepted letters this day read, and the steps which Congress may take in consequence of said intelligence thereby given, be kept secret until further orders." By early 1776, abuses were noted in the practice, and Congress resolved that only the councils or committees of safety of each colony, and their designees, could henceforth open the mail or detain any letters from the post.