Spotting Shots

The quick response - within seconds - came because a nearby sensor picked up the sound of the muzzle blast, pinpointed the shooter's location to within 10 feet and alerted police dispatchers of the address...The ShotSpotter system is only triggered by gunfire and it can discern the type of weapon (rifle, shotgun or handgun) being used. The software in the sensors also commands the surveillance cameras to rotate and focus on the spot where the shot was fired.

Shades of "The Black Arrow."

I wonder what would happen if someone played some of these through loudspeakers...

[Via KABA Newslinks]

Flush That Gun Goodbye

A soldier's weapon has been missing for two days after it was left in a supermarket toilet during a military exercise...

A supermarket toilet? Were they on maneuvers to practice looting stores?

Looks like here's another one for the "We're the only ones professional enough" files...

Anyone with information of the pistol's whereabouts is urged not to touch it but to contact police immediately...

Right-o.

We Have Been SO Blind

Dear kindly social worker,
They say go earn a buck.
Like be a soda jerker,
Which means like be a schumck.
It's not I'm anti-social,
I'm only anti-work.
Gloryosky! That's why I'm a jerk!*

And to think that the problem all along has been anomie!

*GEE, OFFICER KRUPKE: Music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
© 1956, 1957 Amberson Holdings LLC and Stephen Sondheim. Copyright renewed.
Leonard Bernstein Music Publishing Company LLC, Publisher.

"Gun Czar" Needs More Power

Leave it to the "Watchdog Press" to complain that government doesn't have enough authoritah.

How come they never say "Gun Führer "?

Correct Definition of "Assault Weapon"

Police found a knife believed to be the assault weapon inside the apartment, Moran said.

Finally the establishment media gets it right.

The WarOnGuns Bedwetter of the Week Award...

...goes to Mark Medford, Chairman of the York County, VA School Board, who wants state law rewritten to ban the means of self defense at public meetings.

"We're not infringing upon people's rights to bear arms," Medford newspeaks. "[I]f someone decided to snap or got angry about a decision we make, we don't want the worst-case scenario."

Not much trust in your constituents there, eh, Medford?

Not quite. We learn the board "made arrangements to have two deputies present" when they learned they were going to be visited by a free man.

Terrified of the possibility, they needed the assurance of uniforms and badges, because as we have seen time and again, the police are the only ones professional, moral, wise, trained and rational enough to keep and bear arms.

Now Raise Your Right Hoof and Repeat After Me

Baaa, baaaa, baaaaa...

""The value of this pledge can be taught at home," Sparks said.

Huff agreed, and said parents need to pay attention if their child doesn't want to sign the pledge.

That's just plain evil.

The gun court, organized in 1995, is a nationally recognized model hailed by former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.

Why does that not surprise me?

I LOVE It...

...when anti-gunners devour each other.

UN Drafts New Gun Treaty

The U.N. is trying to ban guns again. The latest "small-arms treaty" seeks to abolish the right of any citizens to own virtually any kind of firearm. In the U.S., such an effort would strike at the heart of the Constitution’s Second Amendment.

Molon Labe, Baby!

UPDATE: It looks like someone at FreeMarket News Network took it on themselves to edit/censor my comments--not sure what they're afraid of or why, but they left out key parts and weakened the rest.

Here's what I posted in its entirety:

The UN is utterly powerless unless the US allows its sovereignty to be encroached. A constructionist president would find real work for Bolton to do and withdraw from this power-mad gang of kleptocrats and genocidal thugs.

LaPierre makes great noises about the UN threat to scare the membership into further donations. A real gun rights leader would fold up the NRA's NGO and lead his millions of members under the unified compact of "Molon Labe."

It's time we chased these monsters from our shores, razed the UN building, pulled down their obscene twisted gun barrel sculpture (and melted it into something useful--like personal defensive arms) and pried off all those "World Heritage Site" placards desecrating revered locales like Independence Hall.

Shoot Your Mouth Off First, Don't Ask Questions Later

I sent the following to a Canadian journalist and his editor over this little piece of lying hysteria masked under the "National and World News" banner:

My Goodness, Jason. What a good little propagandist for the Brady Campaign you are—you even managed to use all their arguments and buzz words.

Pretty clever disguising that opinion piece as straight news. That way, people will think you’re a real reporter, not just a paid hack for the political left.

I notice Captain of a Crew of One has also written them, and had to laugh when I saw he, too, properly considers what is being sold as "news" an editorial/opinion piece.

Looks like everyone is capable of making the distinction except those elite "professional journalists" the government seems so enamored of.

What a Crock

Cam Edwards of NRANews.com asks CBS about a potential conflict of interest for correspondent Mike Wallace--who occasionally "reports" on gun control--to appear at a Brady Center fundraiser.

Part of the CBS reply:

According to Wallace, he “had no idea” that the event was a fundraiser for the Brady Center at the time he was asked to speak.

Right.

How is it a relatively obscure gun blog in California knew about this back in July, but a professional journalist (as opposed to a non-government-sanctioned blogger), with the resources of one of the world's largest media corporations, was in the dark about an event he was willing to stake his name on?

The CBS reply indicates Wallace "purchased tickets for himself and some family members who wanted to attend."

So are we to assume he waived his customary $50,001 to $75,000 speaker's fee?

Who asked you to speak, Mr. Wallace? Not just anybody can call you up and get you on the line--and not just anybody can persuade you to forego such a hefty fee--as your reply seems to indicate.

In the interest of public trust, full disclosure on this is warranted.

Who invited you to speak?

What specifically did they tell you about the event?

Did you know it was a fundraiser when you accepted the engagement? How could you not know? You didn't really think a roomful of Washington's well-heeled would be treated to such an evening for free, did you? You knew people would be paying to attend, didn't you--from the onset? Who did you think the beneficiaries would be?

Did you waive your fee?

If so, why? Do you typically give birthday presents worth over $50,000 to colleagues? Or was it because you believed in some cause?

Or if you didn't waive your fee, why make such a big deal out of telling people you paid for your tickets?

If you did or did not accept a fee, what journalistic ethical principles should be considered? That's either a lot of money to waive in support of social policy advocacy--or a lot of money to accept promoting same. In either case, especially with this much money involved, how could you possibly be considered unbiased on the subject of gun control laws?

Did you have an agent/assistant help make arrangements for this event? Who did you or your representative make these arrangements with? Did you or your agent sign a contract to authorize your appearance? If so, who were the parties to the contract and when was it dated?

The Public Eye response strikes me as little more than corporate apologia and deflection. It's time for CBS and Mike Wallace to give more specific details by candidly and fully answering questions like the ones posed here.

UPDATE: One other question--were CBS facilities, resources and personnel used to produce the video Wallace took to the event?

UPDATE 2: I wonder if Washington Post Vice President-at-Large Ben Bradlee waived his customary speaker's fee?

Replace Miers With Bork?

That's what "conservative" National Review Online's Ned Rice recommends:

Lest there be any doubt, this suggestion to resubmit Bork’s name for Senate consideration is no satirical flourish. I am absolutely, positively serious about this. Bork was abundantly qualified to sit on the Supreme Court when he was nominated (and rejected) in 1987 and he remains so today because he is widely acknowledged as one of the foremost legal scholars in the United States.

Right.

Here's Bork's take on the Second Amendment:

"The Supreme Court has consistently ruled that there is no individual right to own a firearm. The Second Amendment was designed to allow states to defend themselves against a possibly tyrannical national government. Now that the federal government has stealth bombers and nuclear weapons, it is hard to imagine what people would need to keep in the garage to serve that purpose."

Bork that.

And Bork you, Mr. Rice, and all the other establishment neocons who would pass this fraud off as a strict constructionist.

I Believe It Would Be a Lot More Effective...

...to just put a glass dome over the state house in Sacramento.

[Via Angry Engineer]

Guess Who's Calling for Gun Control?

UK rapper Megaman of So Solid Crew, who allegedly ordered the shooting of a "love rival" and drove the gunman to the scene, is a big supporter of disarming Britons.

And the head of the "Disarm Trust" supports him right back.

You ought to read some of the Crew's "anti-gun" lyrics. They ought to leave no doubt why Megaman is such a big proponent of making sure the people around him don't have guns.

A Tale of Two Citizens

A Twin Falls man faces multiple felony charges for forcing his girlfriend to her knees while pointing a gun to her head and threatening to kill her.

Sounds appropriate.

So why didn't the same thing happen to THIS guy?

Sheriff's Officer Attacked, Gun Stolen

Authorities were seeking three suspects who boxed the officer in with two vehicles, overpowered him and took his service weapon, Maer said.

Gee, isn't that why they developed "smart guns"? Oh, but, the police exempted themselves if and when the technology is deemed ready to mandate on the rest of us.

What have we been saying about improving the human operator?

If only he'd been wearing his plastic nodule glove.

More Clues on Miers

Warren Burger was one of her favorite judges:

In another sign that Miers's supporters may be worried about perceptions of her Supreme Court knowledge, the Republican National Committee last weekend rebutted reports that Miers had told a senator that her favorite Supreme Court justice was former chief justice Warren Burger...In its press release, the RNC clarified that Miers had just named Burger as one among several favorites, and that she only meant Burger was important "in terms of his role in the administration of justice."

A quote from Warren Burger on the Second Amendment:

"[The Second Amendment] has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word 'fraud,' on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime."

Miers Foes See Law Questions as Way to Derail Nomination

"We are trying to establish that there are thousands of questions that law students routinely deal with...and if she can't get to that level, it doesn't matter if you're for the left or the right, at that point it's a fait accompli that she is not fit for the office."

[Thanks to Dan Gifford for the link.]

Publicola on Hugh Hewitt

Just got in from my after-work commute. I was going through the dial when Hugh Hewitt said he was going to talk about Harriet Miers and the Second Amendment, and that he would be speaking with Publicola, no doubt due to this post.

Hewitt doesn't think we'll ever get to a standard of strict scrutiny on 2A, and thinks intermediate scrutiny is the best we can hope for, particularly because the voters would never go for uninfringed rkba.

Newsflash to Hugh--some of us will accept nothing less. We don't need a majority--all we need is the critical mass of voters to deny victory. And no, we will not lose our gun rights if the Democrats are elected--that is, not unless we surrender them. Some of us--I pray a critical mass--won't do that, either.

Congratulations, Publicola, on getting national radio exposure.

"Politically Charged"

So Harriet Miers wouldn't join the Federalist Society because it was "politically charged"? But she had no problem joining the Democratic Progressive Voters League and did not consider the NAACP to be "politically charged"?

That wouldn't be the same non-"politically charged" NAACP that sued gun manufacturers, would it?