Remington CEO Issues Statement on HS-Precision

I just got off the phone with Tommy Millner, President and CEO of Remington Arms Company.

First, he assures me the email reproduced on AR15.com is authentic.

He has been in contact with HS-Precision management after getting blindsided by the Lon Horiuchi development, and has also personally read and responded to every email sent to him by concerned customers.

He assures me Remington takes this situation, and lack of response by HS-Precision, very seriously, and completely disapproves of what they have done. He tells me Remington is committed to doing the right thing by their thousands of customers, up to and including changing suppliers if there is no other way to go forward.

As a personal note, I was impressed by his accessibility and candor. We've got a guy caught up in a situation not of his making trying to do the right thing, and my recommendation is to trust that he will.

At this point, we need to see what HS-Precision does next.

A Standoffish Former Chief

I was going to continue with my follow-up on the anti-gun mayors' forum, but some ongoing breaking news pushes that off the front burner for today:

"RAVENNA, Ohio — An Ohio sheriff says deputies are in a standoff with a former police chief accused of firing a shot at his adult son."

Today's Gun Rights Examiner column...

Tell a friend?

We're the Only Ones Providing Protection Enough

Authorities on Tuesday announced that 10 Cook County corrections officers and sheriff's deputies, four Harvey police officers and one Chicago officer were charged with providing protection for what they thought were a dozen large-scale shipments of cocaine and heroin.

Yeah, just a few bad apples. To serve and protect what again...?

Not that we've ever had problems with Harvey "Only Ones" before. Or Cook County or Chi-Town, for that matter.

[Via Les K]

Meanwhile, Across the Pond in Sarah Brady Paradise

Jurors weighing evidence in a public inquest into the shooting death of a Brazilian man mistaken for a terrorist cannot find that he was unlawfully killed, a judge said Tuesday.

Which can only mean that, in the UK, killing unarmed innocents is lawful.

[Via Declan]

An Early Warning?

US report predicts nuclear or biological attack by 2013

That's just one scenario. There are plenty of others, both natural and man-made, and at the risk of incurring ridicule, Reichstag fires to justify new "emergency" powers have been known to happen.

I wonder what government policy would be in a full-blown martial law national lock-down?

I wonder if law and order would completely break down in significant portions of the country and if we in the middle of it would be on our own?

I wonder if--Katrina lawsuit rulings notwithstanding--a military/police deployment would try to round up guns in some areas?

I wonder if gun owners would accept that?

I wonder what some would do once civil recourse via elections and lawsuits was indefinitely suspended?

I wonder how people would react to forced relocations?

I wonder why any talk of preparing for such eventualities is met with contempt and hostility by some? Are they saying the time to plan and prepare is after disaster strikes?

This may be much ado about nothing--standard preparations, they've been doing it since the Cold War.

But still, where in history is any civilization guaranteed stasis? Have not despotism and mass destruction plagued every civilization that preceded ours? Is it not, in fact, still commonplace throughout the globe? By what suspension of reality, by what denial of the observable and the probable, by what art, device or magic are we sheltered few immune from catastrophe? Are we certain, from our brief and privileged vantage point, that such things will ever remain headline curiosities? Is it not just plain stupid to proclaim that our familiar way of life will forever be the norm, when everything that has gone before us shows we are, instead, the extremely lucky beneficiaries of a rare and fortunate convergence of circumstances; and one, by the way, that has only been preserved under force of arms?

[Via The Bitter Clinger]

VA RINO Alert

Republican Leadership killed pro-gun bills!

Yep. And the Big Tent "moderates" tell us we need to purge the principle freaks.

The only thing to do if you're inclined to play the political game is take the betrayers out and set an example. Even if it means giving it up this time. The repubs need to field acceptable candidates or what the hell difference does it make?

Some of us helped do it once in VA (albeit it was a primary, but the turncoat fool incumbent was defeated).

I tried to encourage it in IL, but nobody wanted to listen. As a result, we're still facing "leadership" on this bit of dangerous, evil subversion.

So much for tendering a "political solution." Look at how much harder it is on all of us to fight this at the national level because the republicans in Illinois' 10th District have no apparent line in the sand.

[Via Mack H]

The Fight's On

You should begin to understand all this less as abstract metaphor, and take it all at face value. You are living in a gang war, now, thinly mediated only by political institutions which are less and less able every day to manage it.

A-yup.

[Via Mindful Musings]

Call to Mobilize in Canada

OTTAWA - The Conservatives are hoping to enlist gun enthusiasts in the fight against the coalition that is threatening their government.

"Law-abiding owners of handguns and semi-autos will become criminals overnight if the opposition parties have their way," Tory MP Garry Breitkreuz wrote in a letter posted on his website.

"It is essential to mobilize everyone you know."

Canadian gun owners: Have you joined the NFA?

Why not?

[Via The Bitter Clinger]

"I'm the NRA"

Sure you are, Karl. Sure you are.

Karl Malone Speaks Out on Athletes Carrying Guns

Not to mention a hero.

Thing is:

While Malone supports the constitutional right to bear arms, he said he is skeptical of the average athlete's mentality when it comes to firearms.

I don't necessarily disagree with his assessment of a high moron-to-jersey ratio. I just don't see what that should have to do with anyone but the individuals responsible, or in this case, irresponsible.

The point is made again in this article, where the title "Lure of the Gun" suggests the object taking over willpower. Must...obey...

Good grief.

The real problem to me seems to be misplaced social values, where people who excel at ultimately trivial pursuits, and who utterly fail as basic human beings, some criminally, are worshipped. When people no one dares say "No" to predictably go out of (self) control, that should have no bearing on other individuals who happen to share a profession and who don't exhibit such failings.

Malone's quoted words indicate he doesn't get it, and has no business representing himself as a "gun rights leader."

["Lure" article via Declan]

Sen. McClintock Declares Victory!

He'd put out a notice to his email list last week, but said he was waiting until Monday to make a formal announcement due to the Holiday. I meant to pass this on then, but got wrapped around the axle with other things.

[Via SiH]

More on Tom McClintock from WaronGuns

Drunk Drivers Against Guns

Circuit Court Judge Earl Hoffenberg ordered Ditka's driver's license suspended for six months because he had refused to take a test after he was arrested for drunken driving...

Yeah, it was some years ago, but I don't care.

His calling for a blanket ban on gun ownership based on profession was stupid and obnoxious enough to where it's fair to wonder if he'd been drinking.

Besides, CUM ULLA SELLA IN PUGNO TABERNA. And I wouldn't mind taking that bar fight to his restaurants in Chicago and Pittsburgh, at least as far as gun owners spending any money there.

[Via Avg Joe]

A Good Thing

In the end, toughening penalties for violating laws that offend people's sense of liberty, justice and common sense doesn't actually improve the viability of those laws. Instead, it widens the gap between how politicians want people to behave, and how those people actually live their lives. It also encourages popular contempt toward government and the law.

That contempt is probably a good thing.

J.D. Tuccille weighs in on the Plaxico Burress case.

Medicare to Cover Prescription Handguns?

We recently reported about a new 9mm handgun that was designed for folks suffering from arthritis and other disabilities affecting the hands. Constitution Arms, the manufacturer of the firearm, is reporting that the FDA has formally designated the gun as a medical gadget.

That's some fine, smart and creative work there.

[Via Matthew Carmel]

More on the Palm Pistol from WaronGuns

The ‘Gun-Show Loophole,’ Revisited

We have several points to make here. First, you measure the impact of gun shows on homicide rates for three weeks following each show. But many studies of the dynamics of gun crime have established that these crimes rarely involve guns that were purchased within such a short time of the crime’s occurrence. In Texas and California, the two states you study, the average time from a gun’s sale to its recovery following use in crime was 9.8 and 12.9 years, respectively...

Excellent deconstruction of agenda-driven antis trying to blind us with false science...

[Via Bruce Mills]

OFF Update in re "Millner" E-Mail

UPDATE, WE HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT THIS E-MAIL MAY, IN FACT, NOT BE AUTHENTIC. WE WILL POST ANY NEW INFO AS IT ARRIVES.

Naturally, we'll follow this and see. At this point, I'd consider it too early to draw a definitive conclusion.

This Day in History: December 4

1775 JOHN HANCOCK SIGNED LETTER THAT LAUNCHED REPUBLIC

*** An Extraordinary Moment in American History ***

John Hancock as President of the Continental Congress orders the troops of one colony to go to the aid of another in An Act of Colonial Co-operative Self Defense