The Middle Ground

JURIST Guest Columnist Allen Rostron of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law says that by approaching the District of Columbia v. Heller case in a spirit of conciliation and compromise rather than extremism, the Court can make its ruling on the interpretation of the Second Amendment a victory for everyone...

What this is, in fact, is positioning.

For years, the antis have been adamant that 2A does not articulate an individual right.

They see they may be repudiated and proven demonstrably wrong, so they're trying to give themselves cover without giving up ground. If you can't win the debate, change its terms.

What really ought to disturb everyone who's paying attention is that the insidious position advocated by this gungrabber insider is, for all intents and purposes, identical to the one advocated by the "Vote Freedom First President" through his Solicitor General--and anyone who thinks that bit of treason was not directed from the top is worse than a fool.

Well, It's About Dang Time...

What did it take, almost two years?


I'm sure most of you still won't get this, but what the heck.

We're the Only Ones Pwned Enough

Two pawnshop chains that sued the city of St. Paul over how police handle potentially stolen merchandise have settled the suit for $35,000 — and a reminder to police that they should adhere closely to the city's property-confiscation policy.

What, you have to return it?

You just can't confiscate and sell it?

That's one of the things municipalities hire "Pwnly Ones" to protect against?

Who knew?

[Via GlenWD]

We're the Only Ones "Can't Buy Me Love" Enough

A Lakeville police officer's career is on the line after he was accused of plying two 17-year-old girls with liquor and taking pornographic photographs and videos of them.

Well she was just 17
if you know what I mean...

Oh, wait a minute...wrong Beatles lyrics. Here we go:

It feels so right now, hold me tight,
Tell me I’m "The Only One"...

[Via GlenWD]

Hardy Documentary to Feature at Film Festival

From David T. Hardy:

I am happy to relate that my documentary, "In Search of the Second Amendment," will have a festival premiere at 10 AM next Saturday, April 5,at The Backlot Film Festival in Culver City (western LA), California.

http://www.backlotfilmfestival.com/
http://www.backlotfilmfestival.com/program.htm#Saturday
http://www.secondamendmentdocumentary.com/

I'd appreciate if those who blog or maintain email lists could give it a mention. Admission is only $5 per film, and better attendance gives a better shot at getting media coverage.

If you live in SoCal, spread the word among your friends and make plans to go. Hopefully the NRA Members Councils are all pushing their people to attend. And hopefully, some teachable folks outside of the RKBA community will be curious and want to give it a look.

I trust all WarOnGuns regulars have already seen it, bought a copy, shared it with others? Right?

Hold Up a Bit...

The "Authorized Journalists" need to catch up with the bloggers they so vociferously complain about:


Well, you're about a week late to the "news" story, but welcome...

A Concession Here, A Concession There...

To get her gun bill through the first legislative skirmish, state Sen. Karen Johnson needed to scratch language that would have let people carry concealed weapons on public K-12 campuses in Arizona.

Now, the Mesa Republican says she will have to give up more ground in the battle over her divisive proposal if it has any chance of surviving in the state Legislature.

And at the end of it all there may be a special sticker, and those least qualified will be empowered to dictate storage policy.

But I will concede it's "pragmatic" and the only thing that can be done with any hope of political success. The only alternative, besides surrender, is for "absolutists" to carry in defiance of evil disarmament edicts. If enough did, this discussion would be irrelevant.

But we all know enough won't.

The machine feeds itself, no?

Test Your Knowledge of Federal Gun Laws

A) Yes, it is a good idea!
B) No, it is a bad idea!
C) Not Sure.
D) Why? It Already Exists!

This is a pretty clever tool to use for those who say there oughtta be a law...

I did my own pop quiz on the subject a while back.

[Via ricketyclick]

Trojan Horse EscapesPen

I found this eBay ad on an [ignorant] article [falsely] accusing David Codrea, of all people of not supporting the right to keep and bear arms...

Amusingly, Codrea is often accused of being an “absolutist” for not compromising enough with gun-grabbers.

Yeah, damned if I do, damned if I don't.

Thanks for noticing, ricketyclick.

This Day in History: April 3

In a bill signed by John Hancock, its president, and dated April 3, 1776, the Continental Congress issued, “INSTRUCTIONS to the COMMANDERS of Private Ships or vessels of War, which shall have Commissions of Letters of Marque and Reprisal, authorizing them to make Captures of British Vessels and Cargoes.”

Angry AND Authorized

They're angry at their demanding editors. They're angry about the mushrooming workload in shrinking newsrooms. They're even angry about other angry journalists.

But these angry journalists are happy they can now vent their frustrations to the rest of the world, courtesy of angryjournalist.com, a sort of online complaint board allowing ink-stained wretches to gripe anonymously.

Awww, poor little unappreciated and indignant "Authorized Journalists."

Here's my anonymous gripe:

Feel free to leave one yourself, and make sure you let them know how sorry for them you are.

I Wonder Why...

"Many Americans are indifferent to or cynical about the virtues that our country claims," his excerpts said.

Yeah, I guess when you have your eyes open and all you see are false alternatives, people tend to get that way, senator.

Ocala Folla-Up

The Ocala City Council on Tuesday cited protection of the Second Amendment and confidence in the police department when it nixed a citizen-proposed ordinance aimed at outlawing the firing BB and pellet gums [sic] within the city limits.

The story doesn't mention anything about Ocala gun rights activists attending and speaking, so it looks like this was probably a wasted effort.

Did anyone show up?

The good news is, it looks like the council knows what the right thing to do is and then does it.

What remains to be seen is if any of their consitutents will recognize that and thank them for it. Or is it just human nature not to appreciate what you've got until it's gone?

We're the Only Ones Drained Enough

A 16-year police officer with a spotless record faces disciplinary action for dumping two handguns in a city sewer.

Yeah, he was helping a friend, and there just happened to be a narcotics investigation that ended up locating the "disposed" guns.

As far as stories go, is that "The Only One" you've got, patrolman? Because something stinks here, and I don't think it's the sewer.

Shooting Blanks

What's the best way to get men to get vasectomies? Apparently it's to offer them gun licenses. That's a ploy which seems to be working in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri district.

And just when I was confident I could shoot down any argument equating guns as phallic substitutes...

We're the Only Ones Banana Republic Enough

A Haitian MP's handgun went off during a heated debate in parliament, injuring a legislative clerk.

Isidor Mercier insisted the gun went off by accident after he bent down to pick up the fallen firearm. The bullet hit the clerk in his right shoulder.

But reporters who witnessed the scene said they saw Mr Mercier brandish the gun after another MP accused him of profiting from a scheme that involved the repeated replacement of tyres on a government car.

Haitian "Only Ones."

Good grief, can you imagine...?

AHSA Joins Cult of Set

Schoenke, whose group takes a moderate approach to guns, such as endorsing gun show background checks, says Obama's support for the legislation suggests that the senator is high on individual rights.

Right.

Anyone unclear on what these AHSA moles are about is probably too oblivious to own a gun, and they'll do their level best to accommodate such fools.

[Via KABA Newslinks]

The Enemy of the Good

I can't help but note that many gungrabbers reserve particular contempt for RKBA folks who have actually done quite a bit to accommodate them through negotiation, compromise and "pragmatism" advocacy. I also can't help but note that many "pragmatists" in turn reserve particular contempt for "absolutists."

Curious. Especially since they are invariably the ones who rail against "eating our own" and "circular firing squads," meaning you need to agree with them, I guess, and if you don't, you must be scorned.

Maybe it has to do with the underlying mantra that "the perfect is the enemy of the good." They actually believe that, or say they do, although I'm not sure they've thought through all the implications.

I can't help but wonder though, if someone is willing to compromise on fundamental rights, what else are they willing to cede ground on? If we accept lies and betrayals from our oath-swearing representatives, would we not be equally forgiving with errant business partners or wandering spouses?

Can you imagine a quality policy that disparaged the concept of "Zero Defects"? Would you like to ride on tires made by such a company? Or how about undergo surgery from a hospital with the motto "Close enough for government work"? And do you think there's a reason that statement is considered a truism, but nonetheless a grim joke?

Ah, but "politics is the art of the possible," we are told, although how anyone falling back on that excuse instead of pushing the envelope would know the limits of possibility is never quite clear.

Oh well. Some of us, we few, we happy few, we band of brothers, will still plod on with the naive, perhaps hopeless belief that there is room in the debate for "shall not be infringed," and that the problem is not that we have too many "radical" voices, but too few.

The Content of His Character

Judge Marvin Arrington insists he's not a racist; despite ordering white lawyers out of his courtroom on Thursday.

No, of course you're not racist, judge. You just believe in "separate but equal," right?

"...I practiced law for 30 years and 75 percent of my partners were white," he explained.

Hey, some of my best friends are...uh...

If I had been in his courtroom, I'd have defied the order. If he'd had me removed or cited for contempt, I'd look forward to a lucrative settlement.

Tell me if a white judge had done this to black attorneys the race hustlers wouldn't be all over this like...uh...white on rice. Tell me the media wouldn't put it front and center, with the intent to sensationalize and use it as a catalyst to prompt nationwide outrage, and maybe even bigger stories. Hell, tell me the "Justice Department" wouldn't have a squad of "civil rights" enforcers on the next plane out.

Just like they would if other fundamental rights were being infringed, right?

Appleseed's April 19th, 1775 Project

Coast-to-coast simultaneous Appleseeds will be held on April 19/20. Details can be found at http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?board=46.0.

You can find out more in the current and recent Fred's column in SGN, available at the nearest Walmart.

You can also find information on where these events will take place, including how to register, here.

I'll have more as the date approaches.