Imagine if Students Were Armed

Read this letter and see the contempt Larry Hincker, associate vice president for university relations at Virginia Tech, publicly heaps on the suggestion that students may need to defend themselves.

Here is the letter he ridiculed.

Comments on Virginia Tech Shooting

Naturally, amidst the horror, we could expect this:

"We live in a society where guns are pretty well accepted," said Jim Sollo, of Virginians Against Handgun Violence. "There are 200 million guns in this society and obviously some in the wrong hands."

And just as obviously, not enough in the right ones. Per the Virginia Tech Campus and Workplace Violence Prevention Policy:

2.2 Prohibition of Weapons

The university’s employees, students, and volunteers, or any visitor or other third party attending a sporting, entertainment, or educational event, or visiting an academic or administrative office building or residence hall, are further prohibited from carrying, maintaining, or storing a firearm or weapon on any university facility, even if the owner has a valid permit, when it is not required by the individual’s job, or in accordance with the relevant University Student Life Policies.

Any such individual who is reported or discovered to possess a firearm or weapon on university property will be asked to remove it immediately. Failure to comply may result in a student judicial referral and/or arrest, or an employee disciplinary action and/or arrest.

2.3 Authorized Exceptions to Prohibition on Possession of Firearms or Weapons

An employee may possess a firearm or weapon if it is:

• Used by an employee who is a certified law enforcement officer employed by the Virginia Tech Police Department;
• Required as a part of the employee’s job duties with the Commonwealth of Virginia; or
• Connected with training received by the employee in order to perform the responsibilities of their job with the university.

Employees and students may possess and use appropriate tools, such as saws, knives, and other such implements, necessary for the performance of their job duties or school work, or for student recreational purposes approved under University Student Life Policies. Certain agricultural workers have been authorized to use firearms, and hunting on university property may be authorized by the appropriate university officials. Some employees reside in university-owned houses and are permitted to keep personal firearms on these premises; however, this exception does not extend to employees living in university residence halls.

As stated in The University Policies for Student Life, students may not possess, use, or store firearms or weapons on university property; however, firearms and other weapons may be stored with the Virginia Tech Police Department to be checked out for use off-campus. Organizational weapons of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, approved by the Commandant, are not prohibited by this policy.

Other exceptions must be approved by the Vice President for Business Affairs, in consultation with appropriate university offices.

Here's one other thing we can expect: The renewed cries for disarming you and me will push this debate into a level of hysteria and demands that will be unlike anything we have yet encountered. This will be a catalyst. Count on it.

Stanley Taken Captive

At about 11:30am Denver time, as Rick and I were exiting our bank, a dozen or so swat team descended upon us. They fired stun grenades in order to disorient us and screamed at us to get down on the ground. They proceeded to tie our arms behind our backs, then handcuff us. As they were doing this we were asking "what is going on?" They merely told us that Rick's bond had been revoked by a judge.

Here's the most recent update I've received (Sunday, April 15, 2007 9:17 PM):

I just got back from Denver County Jail a few minutes ago. I was able to visit
with Rick for about 10 minutes after waiting approximately 2-1/2 hours. My
sister-in-law and her husband were kind enough to take me down there and wait
with me, although only 1 of us was allowed up to see him. We got there at about
6:40pm and they allow 3 groups of 10 in, starting at 7:00pm. I was in the 3rd group.

He seems to be holding up well under the circumstances. He was allowed a shower this morning and he is still in the clothes he had on yesterday when they took him into custody. There is a large hole in the back of his shirt and a large bandage on his back from where they bean bagged him when they ambushed us yesterday. Apparently he was burned pretty bad by that. Needless to say, I am pretty upset about that! You know him though, he seems to be taking all this in stride. I think he feels the worst that I was subjected to their abuse as well.

We expect that he will be moved to Adams County tomorrow. Then he will hopefully get a hearing as soon as possible and a new bond set. I will advise everyone as soon as I get more information

Pam Stanley

Here's a link to the last "news" story I could find. The "authorized journalists" make quite a show out of portraying Rick as a "threat" on behalf of their government partners.

Here's a link to what I had to say about that.

It doesn't look like the oppressors are going to stop poking with that stick, does it?

Exercise your unalienable Second Amendment-recognized right to keep and bear arms in the United States of America and end up in the gulag as a political prisoner.

Dear Abby, Dear Abby, My Fountain Pen Leaks...*

I don't know what to do, and aside from whether or not my parents would approve, and all other logistical/material concerns aside, I'm not really sure whether I should buy a gun.--Sane Gun Lover

-------------

Why not say that, as interesting and psychically rich as our twisted Southern heritage is, it's time to retire the guns.--Cary Tennis

Gun Lover, Gun Lover
You have no complaint
You are what you are and you ain't what you ain't
So listen up Buster, and listen up well
Tell hoplophobe Cary to go straight to hell

Oh, and while you're at it, stop being such a nihilistic emo wuss. You come off like the Goth kids on South Park.

* With apologies to John Prine

[Via Dan Gifford]

I Use My Hands to...

...murder an animal companion.

The Brady Campaign/God Not Guns/Enuretics United coalition issued a "Hands Without Guns" coloring book a while back because it's something smug liberals think is relevant for turning their children into good little herd animals.

One thing I always get amusement out of is when the Stupid Left turns on itself--and I try to encourage that from time to time. For instance, when Levi Strauss supported citizen disarmament a few years back, I emailed People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, complaining about the tag the company put on the back of their jeans, which, while politically acceptable enough to be imitation leather, still depicted a cruel scene of capitalist exploitation via whip-driven animal slavery.

Well, I, for one, can't sit still while the thoughtless religious zealot specists at the Brady/God Alliance endorse the sport murder of beings that "are smart, interesting animals with their own unique personalities—just like the dogs and cats we share our homes with."

That assertion comes from our friends at PETA, who even have their own comic book to prove it, and hopefully deflect some of the ichthyocidal violence initiated by a cult group of superstitious fanatics. I mean, it's bad enough that Jesus fed the multitudes with the flesh of these gentle souls.

Join me in asking PETA to demand the retraction of "Hands Without Guns" until the hideously offensive depiction of a child...a child, for Dagon's sake...stalking what should be finny friends, with premeditated and horribly agonizing murder in her heart, is deleted.

And while we're at it, let's not forget the impaled worm and the exploited goat hostage...

We're the Only Ones Triangulated Enough

The State Commission on Judicial Conduct issued the suspension order in the wake of charges Aruajo shot her husband March 10 over a reputed love triangle, and threatened a niece of Mayor Roger Stapp in an unrelated incident March 8 in which she allegedly threatened the niece during a phone conversation that she could “put her away” and had the power “to do anything she wanted” as JP.

More torrid drama in an ongoing soap opera I may start calling "Only One Life to Live."

The Single Biggest Problem

"We know what happens in Dade County will affect what happens in Broward County," Jenne said. "The single biggest problem in South Florida is the rise in the use of AKs."

Actually, it sounds like the single biggest problem is Dade County has a liar for a sheriff when it comes to talking to the media about militia-suitable arms.

But I guess blaming a class of weapons he'd like to see you and me criminalized for owning is easier than tackling the real issues, plus it guarantees an enthusiastic cheerleading squad and plenty of free publicity from the "authorized journalists."

[Via Nathan F]

We're the Only Ones Getting Into a Hummer Enough

A former Manhattan Beach police sergeant has been found guilty of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in Las Vegas...

Shelton pulled up, displayed a badge and told him he was a police officer. He persuaded the boy to get into his Hummer.

The boy told jurors that Shelton said he was investigating a homicide, handcuffed him, drove him into the desert and forced him to perform oral sex in the back seat...

This is one illustration of the danger of indoctrinating children to always listen to "The Only Ones." But I guess it's a Catch-22, because if they don't, the same thing could happen to them in the slammer, assuming they survive the encounter.

From the People Who Gave Us Christian Trejbal...

...Meet Tommy Denton.

Quixotic as it may be right now, I propose that we begin thinking about invoking the Constitution's Article V and repeal the Second Amendment.

Right, Tommy.

But I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the prescience of the Founders. They anticipated a threat to Liberty from within as well as without. The Second Amendment was designed to deal with both.

This Day in History: April 16

The Battle of Bennington was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, taking place on August 16, 1777, not at its namesake of Bennington, Vermont, but instead a few miles over the border in Walloomsac, New York. An American force of 2,000 New Hampshire and Massachusetts militiamen, led by General John Stark with aid from Colonel Seth Warner, defeated a combined force of 1,250 Brunswick mercenaries, Canadians, Loyalists, and Native Americans led by Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum.

New WarOnGuns Poll: CCW Permits

The new poll is in the left margin.

Here are the results of last week's poll (click on image to enlarge):

Orwell Would Be Envious

Garrett treats us to an inside look at the Department of Peace and Nonviolence, a proposal from the collectivists that presents an interesting paradox, just in case anyone is paying attention to the irony...

Y'see, Sec. 102 enumerates "Responsibilities and Powers," and you don't have "powers" unless you have enforcement capabilities, that is, the means to back them up. And what are one of the powers the neo-Marxists wish to establish sole province over?

[A]nalyze existing policies, employ successful, field-tested programs, and develop new approaches for dealing with the implements of violence, including gun-related violence and the overwhelming presence of handguns...

Well shoot, that ain't new. That's the same citizen disarmament strategy the communists always employ when they gain power--right before they get to work on culling the dissidents who oppose them, and the useful idiots and useless eaters who are no longer needed.

Here's hoping the day will come when the signatories will regret adding their names to such a treasonous document.

Guest Essay: Armed Society is a Polite Society

Foreword: I received the following first-person account of armed self defense and thought it would interest WarOnGuns visitors.

Armed Society is a Polite Society
by C.S.

We closed the loan on our home here on August 12, 1996. The neighborhood, we knew, wasn't exactly "Beverly Hills" but we didn't know exactly what kind of experience we were in for.

We moved in shortly after closing and as it was summertime, we spent a few nights with the windows open. One night late, a sound woke me up.

*CRACK!!!*

I sat up.

"What was that?" I asked my husband.

"You know what that was" he mumbled. "A gunshot".

That sound and more was to be heard many times in the days (and nights) ahead.

We didn't have a fenced back yard, but we did put one up later. We found several things in our back yard as people crossed through in the middle of the night.

One day when I came home from work, my husband was in the back yard with my youngest son, Michael shooting his BB gun. They had put up some targets and were doing a pretty good job of knocking them down. I pulled up in the driveway and my husband said,

"Honey, I got you something for your birthday".

"What's that?" I asked. My birthday was in a couple of days.

He said, "Mike and I found this behind the bushes"

It was a 3-CD stereo and double tape deck. It even had a CD in it of Barry White.

Probably that shotgun blast I had heard he other night, I thought. Some ya-hoo was fleeing the scene and dropped his goods behind our bushes....just great. We live in da hood.

I kept it. Still have the CD. I like Barry White.

Another time we found a shotgun in the bushes. It was badly rusted and non-operable. No telling how long it had been there. The "Stereo Fairy" has turned into the "Shotgun Fairy". We called the police who came out and took a report. We also told him of the shot gun blasts we had been hearing and about the visit from the Stereo Fairy. We told him we kept that "gift". He didn't say anything.

We were aware of 8 gang members moving into the rent house across the street from us and we were not excited about it.

One afternoon, our teenage daughter Betsy was sitting on the front porch with one of her friends. A few gang members were out in their front yard and a couple of them came over, they said, to borrow our phone. Betsy said as they were standing at the front door, they kept trying to see into our front door presumably checking us out; see what kind of goodies we had they might like to get later on. This was before we got our dogs.

We had made more than a few phone calls to the police about noises coming from the little house across the street, loud music and such. Fighting in the front yard at all hours etc. The police would send a car our, but because they had police scanners, they all would bug out before the cops arrived. We had even seen drug deals going down in broad daylight. We'd call the cops, they'd show up, but nobody would be there when they showed up.

Then it finally happened.

One day my husband was home because of a migraine. He was lying down when two of the gang members knocked on the front door.

"Wonderful" he thought. He went to the door.

They stated they knew we were new in the neighborhood, and we didn't know how things went, but that they were there to let us know who ran things " 'roun' here".

"Is that right?" my husband asked.

They answered in the affirmative.

Further, they stated, it would go well with us if we were to cooperate with them and they would make sure nothing happened to us.

"Really?" he said.

Now you have to know something about my husband. He is a Navy veteran. He doesn't take threats very well, and has a very low threshold for BS.

Assuming they wanted money, my husband asked them to wait right there on the porch. Their eyes lit up.

He took a few steps to the bedroom, reached in the top nightstand drawer for the Ruger Blackhawk .357 magnum and poked it in waistband of his pants behind his back and grabbed the checkbook off the dresser. He went back to the door.

Taking the checkbook and the pen, he asked "How much were you thinking?"

Before they could say anything to him, he dropped the checkbook, grabbed the gun with one hand and one of the punks with the other, and shoved him against the side of the house, pinning him there. The other one started backing down off the porch making his way to the sidewalk.

The eyes of the one he grabbed were as big as saucers as my husband stuck the barrel of the gun under his chin, pointing upwards.

Coolly, he said, "Now I'm new in this neighborhood, and you don't know me. You don't know how I am or what I'll do. And when you start making the payments at (our address) you can start running things " 'roun' here". Get it?"

He indicated he got it.

The other one of them had reached the sidewalk by this time.

Not turning loose of him and keeping the gun where it was, my husband continued.

"Now if any of you guys over there get any bright ideas of doing anything to any one of us, our house or cars, or property, then I'm coming to find YOU. Not anyone else... just YOU. And you know I can find you too, because of where I work. You understand?"

He nodded.

"Now you tell your buddies over there exactly what I said, all right?"

He nodded again.

He turned him loose and he started backing as well until he reached the middle of the street.

It was pretty quiet around our neighborhood for about a month. We had a couple more noisy nights, but nothing major and didn't make any calls to the police. What was the use now? After two more months, they all moved out and we never heard or saw them again.

Who was it that said, "An armed society is a polite society"? They were right.

An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.
Robert A. Heinlein
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/robertahe100989.html

C. S.
Arkansas

We're the Only Ones Suspended Enough

The State Commission on Judicial Conduct, on April 5, 2007, ordered that Lockney J.P. Michelle Araujo be suspended with pay from the office of Justice of the Peace and from the office of Municipal Court Judge for the City of Lockney.

WarOnGuns will, of course, continue to follow this story.

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

We're the Only Ones In Evidence Enough

Police are investigating whether a handgun was stolen from the Town of Wallkill police evidence room and used by a reputed gang member in a shooting last week in Middletown.

Yes, it's always a good idea to employ "reputed" gang members who go by the street name "King Trouble" and give them access to official evidence and impounded firearms. Only "The Only Ones" could think of such an ingenious community outreach program.

If you have any suggestions for the Wallkill PD, click here. They also encourage anonymous tips.

[Via Declan]

This Day in History: April 15

The Continental Congress ratified preliminary articles of peace ending the Revolutionary War with Great Britain on April 15, 1783. International intrigue and intense negotiation preceded the formulation of these preliminary articles.

Christ Killa

Described as the ultimate arbitration between politics and Christianity, “Christ Killa” is a video game linked to video projectors and television monitors. A first person shooter in which the player shoots hordes of homicidal Jesus Christs, the game landscape is filled with Googled images of Christian propaganda posters, religious shrines such as St. Peter’s in Rome, and clichéd representations of Christ who constantly mumbles messages of tolerance and compassion.

Y'know what, Eric Medine? You're not daring or innovative at all. You're just a pussy, afraid to make a really bold artistic statement.

Jesus is an easy target. We've endured Chocolate Jesus, Piss Christ, Elephant Dung Mary, and all sorts of abominations you and yours feel compelled to inflict on our culture, to make up for what imagined grievance that turned you into hate-filled losers I don't know. You are fully aware that you do this safely, because you know Christians won't issue a fatwah. No one will set out to capture you and slit your throat on video.

What courage! What innovation! What inspiration!

Yawn.

Wanna impress us, Eric, you and your promoters at Niche.LA?

Put on "Muhammad Killa."

But you won't do that, will you, Eric?

Coward.

Update: I got this story from WorldNetDaily and pretty much reacted instantly. I didn't go over to Michelle Malkin's post until after I'd already done this. I see both pieces raise pretty much the same points, so I just wanted to get that out in the open...

Guest Editorial: Credible Deterrence & the Logistics of Liberty

FOREWORD: Here's another gem from Mike Vanderboegh. I am pleased and privileged to showcase his important work here at WarOnGuns. Because the reach of this humble blog is so limited, I encourage you to pass links to Mr. Vanderboegh's work far and wide, if you agree with me that there is wisdom here we must heed.

Credible Deterrence & the Logistics of Liberty
by Mike Vanderboegh

"The test of a good strategy is that it achieves its object without the necessity for battle. As Sun Tzu put it: 'What is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy; next best is to disrupt his alliances; next best is to attack his army.'"
--General Rupert Smith, British Army, Ret'd, in The Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World, Alfred Knopf, NY, 2007, pp. 13


"A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition."
-- Rudyard Kipling

What did the Founders intend with the Second Amendment? Liberals ignored, gunnies would all agree that their purpose was to codify the people's natural right to arms. As men who had been compelled to fight for independence by the British seizure of their arms, it was natural for them to ensure that the people of future generations be enabled to maintain the tools necessary to repel tyranny. But I think the Founders' purpose was not only to set up the preconditions to resist tyranny when it appeared, but also to deter it by providing future would-be tyrants with a credible deterrent that would discourage them from making the attempt to begin with. Others think so too. Here are two examples:

"The 'insurrectionist theory' label does not do justice to this aspect of the Second Amendment. True, the Second Amendment implicitly authorizes recourse to arms when less drastic means fail to attain or retain the proper ends of government identified in the Declaration. But the Amendment's greater value lies in the deterrent effect it would have, were it respected and enforced to the degree of its companion rights in the Bill of Rights. Although it implicitly authorizes rebellion-and explicitly provides the means of waging rebellion-the Amendment, if observed, should make rebellion less likely by making it less likely to be necessary. The Second Amendment should stand as a reminder to those who govern of the people's ultimate right to preserve or reestablish their rights by arms. One need not prophesy armed struggle by American citizens against their own government to propose that the citizenry's widespread ownership of firearms could safeguard liberty by deterring tyranny. The great value of the right is political, not military. This value lies not in the fact that the Amendment enables armed resistance, but that by enabling armed resistance it should make the conditions which would justify such resistance less likely to occur."

-- David Harmer, "Securing a free state: Why the Second Amendment Matters", Brigham Young University Law Review, 1998

(http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3736/is_199801/ai_n8765559/pg_1)

"Too many people wrongly assume that the purpose of revitalizing 'the Militia of the several States' (or, for that matter, of forming the kind of private citizens 'militia' that already exist in several States) is to fight new battles of Lexington and Concord. To the contrary: The goal must be, if at all possible, to deter usurpation and tyranny, so as to make actually fighting any battle here in America unnecessary. Deterrence is always the best defense. And preparedness makes deterrence credible."

- Dr. Edwin Vieira, Jr. "'The Militia Of The Several States' Guarantee The Right To Keep And Bear Arms", Aug 2005

(http://www.gunowners.org/opev06.htm)

Here we are then, back to Sun Tzu's dictum quoted at the outset. The exercise of the Second Amendment attacks the enemy-of-liberty's strategy at its source, between the tyrant's own ears, strangling the deadly idea of usurpation in its cradle before it can spring forth in murderous adulthood. Note well, I said "the exercise of the Second Amendment." The piece of paper alone guarantees nothing. We are not talking about law or morality or "emanations and penumbras" as one Supreme Court justice has divined. In the end, as with most other things in this world, American liberty is secured by the threat of naked force from the armed citizenry. Tyrants are nothing if not calculating, and the credible deterrence comes from the number of free men and free women opposed to their schemes, the character and number of the arms they hold, the level of proficiency they have achieved with those arms and their perceived will to use them. That, and one other thing, which we will get to in a minute.

But first, you must understand how tyrants think. Joseph Stalin, when informed after World War II that the Pope disapproved of Russian troops occupying Trieste, turned to his advisors and asked, “The Pope? The Pope? How many divisions does he have?” Dictators are unmoved by moral suasion. But you, gentle readers, have the argument that persuades dictators in your gun safes, closets and car trunks: millions upon millions of semi-automatic rifles of military utility-- those evil misnamed "assault rufles" that so frighten Chuck "the Schmuck" Shumer and the Brady Bunch. You have the power, ladies and gentlemen. The question is: Is the possession of rifles and the will to use them by themselves enough? No, it is not.

"Lieutenants study tactics, Generals study logistics." -- Military maxim.

"Then there is ammunition, for above all it is the bullet that kills. Skill is, of course, an essential element in dispatching that bullet effectively, but it is still the bullet that kills.... At the lower tactical levels of command one operates on the assumption that bullets are in continuous supply, but everyone is conscious that it is only an assumption. A rifleman can discharge all that he can carry in only a few minutes, and his commander must then either replace him or resupply him. It is therefore up to the commander to either strictly define or limit a soldier's task to the ammunition he carries, or else ensure that he is steadily replaced or resupplied. As you rise in command, you become increasingly concerned about the bullets rather than the rifles, and all other weapons, since they are the force being propelled and applied."

-- General Rupert Smith, British Army, Ret'd, in The Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World, Alfred Knopf, NY, 2007, pp. 79-80

Or as General Walton Walker said in the early, desperate days of the Korean War, "We can win without food, we cannot win without ammunition." And ammunition supplies to the armed citizenry, as many of you have no doubt noticed, are becoming increasingly problematic. Hence this recent story:

Overseas wars causing ammo shortages
By UPI Staff
United Press International
April 9, 2007
SAN JOSE, Calif. (UPI) -- With wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, police departments in the United States are reporting a shortage of ammunition needed for firearms.

The San Jose (Calif.) Mercury-News reported that in addition to overseas conflicts, an unprecedented rise in the price of raw materials is also contributing to the shortage of ammunition. Also compounding the problem are longer delays in the shipment of ammo. Police across the United States said that ammunition shipments that once took 45 days are now taking as long as six months.

Many police departments are stepping up their ammo orders to hold them over during the long delays, the Mercury-News reported. "It has become a nightmare," said Sgt. Don Moore, San Jose police range master.

The U.S. military's increased use of firearms has been blamed for the shortage, but another factor, the Mercury-News reported, is the rise in the prices for ammo. Prices are said to have risen almost fourfold in the past 2 1/2 years, as demand for raw materials has surged in China and India.

(Source: http://www.gopusa.com/news/2007/april/0409_ammo_shortage.shtml)

Or this one, quoted in part, from the Fort Wayne, IN Journal Gazette:

Mon, Apr. 02, 2007
Bullet shortage tales spur police to load up
By Rebecca S. Green
The Journal Gazette

Some area law enforcement agencies have stocked up on ammunition in recent months after rumors of shortages and backorders caused by increased usage by military and law enforcement in the ongoing war on terror. Though Jeffersonville-based Kiesler Police Supply and Ammunition Co. sent a letter in February to law enforcement agencies in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, alerting them to a continued ammunition shortage, many local agencies are not worried about running out of bullets.

“We wish to advise every police and sheriff department or agency in our territory (whether or not you are a customer of Kiesler’s) that deliveries of duty and practice ammunition are horribly backordered,” the letter read.. . . Increased usage by the military and law enforcement, as well as a number of foreign manufacturers ceasing U.S. sales, has contributed to the backlog, which is “the worst shortage Kiesler’s has seen in its 35 years of being in business,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Journal Gazette.

The letter to police goes on to indicate that .223-caliber rounds, used in assault rifles such as the M-16, are backlogged until the end of 2007 or early 2008 for both training rounds and ammunition carried on duty. The M-16 and its descendants, such as the M-16A1 and others, have been the primary infantry rifle used by the U.S. military for more than 40 years, and are also used by a number of other countries. Officials from Kiesler declined to comment for this story but on Friday referred calls to ATK, a weapons system company. No correlation between the increased demands for ammunition by law enforcement agencies, particularly training ammunition, should be drawn to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Brian Grace, spokesman for weapons manufacturer ATK.

The company manufacturers a large amount of ammunition used in the civilian, law enforcement and military sectors, doing an estimated $1.3 billion in business in its Ammunition Systems Group and produces about 1.5 billion rounds of small-caliber ammunition annually. ATK’s law enforcement ammunition, both training and duty rounds, is manufactured at plants in Minnesota, while small-caliber rounds for military use are made in Missouri, according to the company’s Web site. Grace said ATK has ramped up production of training ammunition, as well as increased capacity at its plants, making bullets “24/7.” He said the move was driven 99 percent by demand, rather than by a shortage in supply. . . .

. . . Huntington police officer Dale Osborn has served as the department’s firearms instructor for the past decade. He said the .45-caliber is the hardest round to obtain, the only backlog for his department’s supplier, Precision Cartridge Inc. in Hobart. Officials at Precision told Huntington that some suppliers were slower because of an increase in the military’s need for bullets, Osborn said. Slightly cheaper than the rounds carried in officers’ weapons, training rounds make up the bulk of police departments’ ammunition purchases, unlike the more complicated duty ammunition, which expands after contact with a target.

Sgt. Chad Hill, public information officer at the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department, said his department has had such a hard time obtaining the .223 rounds needed for the M-16A1 military surplus rifles carried by the deputies they have had to buy the ammunition from the Czech Republic. . . .He said the department has also had difficulty getting training ammunition for the duty-issued .45-caliber handguns and 9 mm handguns used by the department. While the department has been told to expect an easier time buying bullets by August, there is no guarantee, Hill said.

(Source: http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/17014131.htm)

We civilian shooters have experienced this lately in the soaring rise in prices, but more troubling was the drying up of entire classes of ammo we have come to depend on, which one observer called The Great Ammo Drought of '06.

"SayUncle (a blogger) mentioned the rising cost of 7.62x39mm ammo, and offered an explanation. While the order of a bazillion rounds of 7.62 for the Afghanis might mean the supply of commercial Wolf/Barnaul ammo remains scarce, it doesn't account for the fact that it has been scarce for almost a year now, and that the scarcity of imported Russkie 7.62x39 is not necessarily directly linked to the price of its domestic alternatives. . . .Thing is, the domestic companies never loaded all that much 7.62x39, since most shooters simply burned up cheap imported Wolf by the case. Then Venezuela bought 100,000 AK's and the ammo to feed them last summer, and that dried up the Russian ammo flow like somebody turned off a tap; the domestic production never really caught up to the increasing demand. If this Afghan contract happens, it'll be another long drought until we see more cheap imported ammo. 'Til then it's going to be brass-cased domestic stuff or nothing, and with metals prices and fuel costs both up, ammo is more expensive than ever. I've seen two or three price hikes from every manufacturer and distributor since last October, with some brands and calibers going up by as much as 20%. Of course, this affects all ammo, not just 7.62x39mm. Combine that with the shortage of Winchester .22 ammo caused by Winchester moving rimfire production to a new facility in Arkansas, and you have a recipe for scarcity and high prices all across the ammunition landscape. Hoard you some ammo today. :)"

(Source: http://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com/2006/06/great-ammo-drought-of-06.html)

"Hoard you some ammo today." Not bad advice. For if we understand this vulnerability, so do our enemies. Says the Small Arms Survey, an adjunct of the United Nations' attempt to control the private use of arms world-wide (including your own, my dear friends):

"Ammunition: Weapons are only lethal when supplied with ammunition. The procurement of the correct type of ammunition for the available stockpiles of weapons is therefore a core concern for states, non-state armed groups, and individuals. While weapons are durable goods, which can be used for many years, ammunition is quickly depleted, and stocks must be replenished. As a consequence, intensive weapons use, such as in contexts of conflict or criminality, requires the maintenance of regular supply lines of ammunition. The oversight or disruption of such supply lines potentially represents an opportunity for controlling arms proliferation and limiting weapons misuse."

(Source: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/files/portal/spotlight/ammunition/ammun.html)

Getting the picture now? You know Bill Clinton did this back in 1994, when the unintended consequences of the impending AWB boosted sales of Chinese semi-auto rifles and ammunition through the roof.

"In a sharp change of policy, President Bill Clinton declared Thursday that he was breaking the link between human rights and trade with China. The president's declaration came as he announced what U.S. officials had been signaling for days: that the White House believes China has made enough progress on human rights in the past year to retain most-favored-nation trade status, which means low U.S. tariffs on the $31 billion worth of goods it exports to the United States. . .

Nevertheless, Mr. Clinton took a series of steps designed to maintain at least some pressure on China: He ordered a ban on the importation of Chinese-made weapons and ammunition, but there was no explicit link to human rights. Cheap, Chinese infantry assault rifles are flooding the U.S. market and are increasingly being used in violent crimes. He announced his intention to enhance Radio Free Asia and Voice of America broadcasts into China and increase government support for private human rights groups."

(Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/1994/05/27/mfn_1.php)

Though couched in terms of "human rights", Clinton's real purpose was clear enough, even to human rights activists. Said Human Rights Watch Executive Director Sidney Jones at the time:

"'By any yardstick, the human rights situation in China has deteriorated in the last year,' . . .noting more than 100 political and religious activists have been arrested, compared with three dozen prisoners released.. . the decision left Clinton's administration 'looking vacillating and hypocritical while the Chinese leadership, by contrast, has emerged as hard-nosed, uncompromising and victorious.' The ban on arms and ammunition imports from the Peoples Liberation Army is good for 'gun control, not human rights pressure,' Jones said. 'The only big winner from this decision is the Chinese government.'"

(Source: http://www.tibet.ca/en/wtnarchive/1994/5/27-4_2.html)

We frightened the Clintonistas with our purchases and so Bubba cut them off, though it was too late to stop the balance of power shifting more than a few degrees toward us, the armed citizenry. Millions of rifles and billions of rounds of ammunition flooded in and, as Clausewitz observed: "In military affairs, quantity has a quality all its own."

Of course the desire to disarm us by starving our ammunition supply is also alive and well in the proposals of liberal congresscritters over the past decade to require the banning of "armor piercing" and "cop killer" bullets and attempts to tax ammunition out of existence, or make it chemically "deactivated" after a certain period of time.

So our enemies know well how to mess with our power. The question is: What are we prepared to do about it?

Finding even semi-accurate "guess-timates" of how many rounds of ammunition are in private hands in this country is almost impossible. Anecdotal evidence suggests that after the Clintons departed the White House, many folks felt the pressure was off and have spent the past six years shooting up those billions of rounds of 7.62x39 at the range. Replacing them now is financially problematic for the average gunowner. Even absent continuing production diversions to hot wars like Iraq and Afghanistan (and potential troublemakers like Venezuela), the Chinese economy has driven up prices on all base metals and with them, the cost of the finished product that makes your rifles go "bang." The only "cheap" ammo (circa 12 cents per) to be had these days is Russian and Bulgarian military production 7N6 5.45x39. This is why the semi-auto AK-74 has acheived new significance in your gun shop's line of profitable guns to stock. When that 5.45 milsurp is exhausted, the price on 5.45 will also rise.

And this is absent any significant push in the market. Should the Clintons return to the White House, or there's another LA riot or Katrina disaster, the rush will be on and prices that are thought to be high now will be looked upon with fond nostalgia. Unless somebody nukes China, the market forces are going to continue to squeeze us, cutting down on our range time (also important to maintain credible deterrence) and threatening to make our rifles nothing more than expensive clubs.

So I guess I've told you all of this, in part at least, as an investment tip. Buy now. Buy a LOT. Start stocking up on everything from finished rounds to reloading equipment and components. It is the only way to maintain credible deterrence with our political enemies who seek to disarm us on the quiet. We all must turn our attention to the logistics of liberty, lest we lose the deterrence and are forced to fight.

And one other thing. We have always said amongst ourselves that any attempt at universal gun confiscation would be a causus belli-- the trip wire to overthrow the gun-grabbers and drive them from power. We said as much publicly, if indirectly, when we purchased those millions of rifles in the early 90s. It is time to get the message across that attacking the armed citizenry by indirect disarmament in the taxing or banning of ammunition is also a trip wire that potential tyrants need to be mindful of lest we make them a footnote to history.

Mike Vanderboegh
PO Box 926
Pinson, AL 35126
GeorgeMason1776ATaol.com

Separate AND Unequal

[T]he National Action Network has increased the Rev. Al Sharpton's security due to a number of death threats in the wake of the firing of radio host Don Imus by MSNBC and CBS Radio.

That wouldn't include armed security, would it, "Reverend"? Not "Gun Control" Al...

I also couldn't help but notice this bit:

Sharpton later filed suit against the city accusing the NYPD of failing to protect him. The two sides eventually settled.

Oh, really? Do you think they'd "settle" if it was someone besides this lying, hate-mongering race pimp? They didn't "settle" with Linda Riss. They "ruled that [she] had no right to protection."

So much for equality under the law.

Why corporate America kisses this bigot's corrupt posterior instead of having security throw him out on the sidewalk is beyond me. I'd make a point of patronizing a company that had the guts to publicly tell him to take his ridiculous extortion threats and go to hell.

We're the Only Ones Unbinding Enough...

A corrections officer at the Hudson County Jail has been charged with giving a handcuff key to an inmate who was scheduled to be moved to a state prison facility.

Hey, what with the cigarettes, contraband and cell phone, it sounds like he was just taking care of a special customer. I wonder if they offer a "Buy One Only One Get One Free" deal?

Maybe that explains why they returned my letter to Wayne Fincher that included writing paper, envelopes and stamps. I didn't realize I was competing against a preferred vendor...

[Via Vinnie]