Down the Rabbit Hole: Part III

How many independent sworn statements by people with nothing to gain by lying and everything to lose if they do are needed to establish credibility?

[Via David R. Olofson]

Part I
Part II

Down the Rabbit Hole: Part II

This is a sworn statement. That means the person giving this deposition risks having his life destroyed if he makes a false statement. That means if he is not committing perjury, an independent investigation must determine if BATFU planted evidence.




The charges raised herein are among the most serious of crimes a government enforcement agency can perpetrate on a citizen. This document alone ought to be enough to DEMAND congressional hearings.

[Via David R. Olofson]

Part I

Friends

L. Neil Smith vents.

Hoo-boy, does he.

One point of clarification: NRA members do not have an individual representative to write to as this suggests. And seeing as how nobody wants to run with my suggestion of finding out where they stand and supporting them accordingly, I wouldn't expect that to be much of a pressure generator anyway.

But I do expect this to generate a lot of pure hatred on the gun forums.

Yikes!

[Via Ron W]

Texas Democrat Gun Owners Caucus

Amendment II Democrats is organizing the first-ever meeting of the new Gun Owners Caucus of the Texas Democratic Party at the upcoming 2008 State Convention in Austin, TX next month. If you are a delegate, alternate, or guest to the Texas convention, you are welcome to attend. Here are the details:

Friday, June 6, 2008 at 9:00am
Austin Convention Center
Level 3, Room 8B
500 E. Cesar Chavez Street
Austin, TX 78701

We've had extensive discussion on and with these folks before--on several occasions.

There are many issues I could raise and ask if they've taken a stance (and if not, why not?), when and what was it on timely and vital subjects like BATFU, Red's, Olofson, Cavalry Arms, etc., stuff that I focus on every day and certainly ought to merit comment from a gun rights group. But I believe there is a more clear and unequivocal demarkation line they could stand behind.

Fellas, you shouldn't need to wait until the June caucus because the candidates' positions are established, clear and not subject to credible change.

Who are you backing for president?

Where Credit is Due...?

U.S. Rep. Bill Sali, R-Idaho, said Friday that his complaints about the slogan - "Always Think Forfeiture" - persuaded the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to end its use on the Leatherman tools handed out to participants in a training program.

But a spokesman for the federal agency said Friday that the agency actually stopped using the slogan about two months ago, when other members of Congress first raised concerns.

So who the hell does BATFU think they are to require a FOIA demand before they'll release the names of other congressmen who "had inquired about the slogan"? Why is that not a freely-accessible public record, and does it not nicely illustrate what light-fleeing shadow-dwellers they are?

Oh, and nice try, Walt Minnick. I see you credit yourself with being "instrumental in the creation of the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration)." So I see what you mean about "pay[ing] attention to details" when the topic of assert forfeiture comes up.

I also see that as of a couple months ago, the majority of your support came from out of state donors--that'll serve the independence of Idahoans well--nothing like a little carpetbagging by proxy, eh?

I truly don't fault Sali. You don't know what you don't know, and those other congressmen should have come to the fore on this and been the leaders they tell us they are. And BATFU getting all snitty didn't help. The bottom line is, it's a good thing.

Here's somethihg else good that came out of this:

That changed March 19, when a blogger looking at ATF contracts on a government-purchasing database found an order for 2,000 Leatherman tool-kits engraved with the slogan.

The blogger wrote about it on www.freedomsight.net, and the issue took on a life of its own in the blogosphere. Gun owners and private property rights activists seized on the phrase as a sign that the agency was biased toward law-abiding gun owners.

It's very nice to see Jed get some recognition, and affirms that bloggers can and do affect the course of things.

So--who knows how to file that FOIA request? Not that I don't automatically believe every word they say...

[Via Wayne Newton :) ]

Daddy, Don't You Walk So Fast...

...Daddy, slow down some 'cause you're makin' me run...

AvgJoe is on a tear--all these links and so little time...:)

Here--I've combined 'em in one post:

We're the Only Ones Not Really Only Ones Enough

A man coaxed an aspiring model into his car by flashing a fake police badge and then raped her at gunpoint, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office.

Well--they've got just about everybody conditioned to obey on command, don't they? Figures some enterprising sort would figure out how to work that to his advanntage and actually increase violent crime.

We're the Only Ones "All in the Family" Enough

Drew Peterson won't get back 10 guns authorities seized last year, but his police officer son appears likely to end up with the weapons, Peterson's attorney said Tuesday.

I didn't realize Peterson had been convicted of anything. If he has, what's he doing on the street? If he hasn't, why is it lawful to take his guns?

The Microstamp Workaround

Codes engraved on the face of the firing pin could easily be removed with household tools, Beddow found.

That alone should be enough to stop this foolishness. And of course, there are many other reasons, too.

I guess California in general--and the University of California in particular--must be pretty flush despite desperate pleas for more money...

We're the Only Ones "Mentoring" Enough

Authorities in New York have launched a case against a police officer who once led a department "gay" organization, alleging he preyed on a relative's adopted son and forced the boy to have sex with him.

But don't you dare lift a pink...uh...finger against him...

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

Ahhh--I see he just sent me another one. I'll get to it in a bit, AJ--I see it merits it's own separate post.

Fulfilling All Expectations

The 50 U.S. states are holding more than $32 billion worth of unclaimed property that they're supposed to safeguard for their citizens. But a "Good Morning America" investigation found some states aggressively seize property that isn't really unclaimed and then use the money -- your money -- to balance their budgets.

We've let them get away with being thieves for so long I don't know why anybody would be surprised to find them stealing whatever they can get away with. But that won't stop the "Authorized Journalists" at ABC from continuing to cheerlead for more and more government, and of course, a monopoly of force. And acting all surprised at finding that power corrupts.

[Via AvgJoe]

There's Stupid

...and then there's Huckabee.

And not one person "booed"?

Say, can I make jokes about aiming guns at presidential candidates, too?

McCain Pledges More Infringements

But I believe an accurate, fair and instant background check at guns shows is a reasonable requirement. I also oppose efforts to require federal regulation of all private sales such as the transfer between a father and son or husband and wife. I supported campaign finance reform because I strongly believed our system of financing campaigns was influencing elected officials to put the interests of "soft money" donors ahead of the public interest.

And not one person "Booed"?

This Day in History: May 17

On May 17, 1775, more than a year before the Declaration of Independence was presented in Philadelphia, the inhabitants of Coxsackie signed a Declaration of Independence of their own. The faded yellow parchment, found in an Albany attic some years ago, bears the names of 225 signers, most of them Dutch names of freeholders from the Coxsackie District of the Colony of New York.

Always Think Oversight

A federal agency has halted a controversial program giving agents engraved Leatherman tool kits reminding them to focus on the seizure of private property, after Congressman Bill Sali, (R-Idaho), raised objections.

Sali said he will pursue legislation to prevent the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from restarting the marketing program.

I always preferred monkeywrenches to pliers anyway. A symbolic victory in light of the "long train of abuses," but a significant one nonetheless if for no other reason than to jerk the leash and remind them one exists.

Good job, Congressman. Well done.

Any chance we could collect the undistributed tools and melt them into a pro-gun sculpture?

Why Do We Buy Annette John-Hall's Line?

Vernick's opinion is shared by the 25,000 members of the American Hunters and Shooters Association, a new organization created to bring reason back to the gun issue.

Oh, look. Another ignorant fanatic more interested in ginning hysteria than the truth.

The way she interchanges semiautomatic handguns with AK-47's, it's evident Annette doesn't even know what an "assault weapon" is--and that's just the way Josh likes it. The more she places blind faith in Philadelphia " Only Ones" having these weapons and denying them to We the People, the more she shows her statist bent. Tell it to the guy gang-stomped on the ground the other day, Annette. The way she gets her knickers in a knot over a "body-armor-penetrating weapon" shows she has no clue that virtually any hunting rifle and round will do the same--the semiauto function has nothing to do with that.

And of course, her total ignorance on the inconvenient"roots" issue demonstrates yet another [yawn] in a line of oportunists who, "rather than being a leader in liberty...opted to become just another one of the plantation's overseers."

But that's not what I'd like to focus on. I don't even care about the Idiot Quisling Fudd* who appears noodleheaded enough to believe he'll be eaten last.

Naw, what I homed in on was "25,000 members" for AHSA.

Oh, really. And how do we know?

Apparently because Judas Bob said so? He's the only quoted rep. And we all know his track record means we can believe Judas Bob!

[Via DJK]

* I think I'm going to start using "IQF" as my preferred term for these mudheads.

McCain Reaches Out to Lefties

You know, because he's the gun owners' pal.

There's room in the Big Tent for everyone! Except maybe we deluded few who believe in archaic and unpopular notions like core principles mattering.

Did Ignorance or Flawed Ethics Kill Jill Porter's Credibility?

Did guns or a flawed justice system kill Sgt. Liczbinski?

Actually, Jill, a depraved animal did. But what did Mr. Pynchon say about asking the wrong questions?

Here's the part I'd really like to address, though:

Some of the folks who think that the Second Amendment is sacrosanct have little regard for other provisions of the Bill of Rights.

I've seen this baseless insinuation creep up in other places, on forums, in comments, in anti-defense editorials, which leads to the conclusion it is an intentionally planted diversionary tactic, and the bottom line, Jill, is you have no truthful basis to make such a claim. So are you doing it out of ignorance, or are you intentionally lying?

If you're going to go there, Jill, square it with the FACT that the NRA joined forces with the ACLU, the AFL-CIO and others in leading the fight for free political speech and equal protection.

Square it with JPFO being a national gun rights organization that has proposed and continues to promote efforts to "reestablish a Bill of Rights culture."

Square it with GOA denouncing edicts that have the effect that "legal aliens somehow enjoy fewer Fourth Amendment protections against search and seizure than other residents in this country".

Square it with established positions of the Libertarian and Constitution parties.

None of this is new, Jill, and it took me literally under three minutes to find all of it. If I really rolled my sleeves up, I could bury you with references, but the point is made.

I do wonder if there's a bit of projection going on. Because the ones who routinely allow for the erosion and subversion of our rights and freedoms are proponents of the Leviathan state. Like you, Jill.

Anyone who spreads the outrageous falsehood that RKBA-supporting Americans disparage the whole Bill of Rights, or indeed, the entire Constitution, is quite simply and demonstrably a liar.

Like you, Jill?

All the Facts that are Fit to Withhold and Distort

A Berlin man who loaned a machine gun to a man at a conservation club in July 2006 will spend time in a federal prison.

This has gotta be the most blatant example of "Authorized Journalism" I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot.

Why, you'd never even know there was any controversy, would you?

As far as The Oshkosh Northwestern's readership is concerned, a dangerous criminal has been convicted. They can all go back to sleep now. This doesn't affect them.

Shameful. Just shameful.

Then when birdcage liners like this start to lose circulation, their apologists complain about unreliable blogs.

We're the Only Ones Planting Enough

Relatives, witnesses and friends of a 19-year-old man shot and wounded by police on Mother's Day allege that a gun was planted on him after he was shot, according to a Channel 5 news report.

Nah, I don't believe it.

Not Chicago "Only Ones."

Why Would Anyone Want To?

State law prohibits a town or city from banning guns in most public buildings, including a town hall, so residents do have a right to carry legal firearms into a public meeting.

The common sense question here is, "Why would anyone want to do so?"

Oh, I don't know, genius. Suppose you tell me.

Council member Peggy Steele probably spoke for most residents when she said, "That (carrying a gun at the meeting) worries me, especially if it is someone who has a temper."

And tempers did flare, especially about the residency issue, which is being looked into by the Franklin County Commonwealth's Attorney.

Gee, that's funny. All those flaring tempers and all those VCDL members--you'd think an explosive mixture like that would have produced more than peaceable citizens firmly reminding their employees of their rights.

And say a temper did truly flare. Just what would you and Peggy be able to do about it?

UPDATE: AvgJoe sent me this story link, that includes a poll I urge you to take and help spread the word on.

We're the Only Ones On Course Enough

The longtime martial arts instructor for former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona was convicted Thursday of criminally threatening a golfer during a dispute that began with a wayward fairway shot.

Raymond Yi was acquitted of all other charges, including three felony counts of assault with a firearm, by a San Bernardino County jury that deliberated less than a day in a case that drew attention to Carona's troubled reserve deputy program...

The case drew headlines because Yi, sworn in as an Orange County sheriff's reserve deputy in 2002, was among friends and allies of Carona who allegedly misused their badges.

Well first of all, and unless all those movies I've watched are wrong, I'd like to know what a karate expert needs a gun for. And then I'd like to know why the "Only One" who felt compelled to use one was a pseudo-"Only One."

Is Lee Amos Truly That Clueless?

Tyrone Gilbert was shot on 27 July 2007 at the wake of his friend Ucal Chin, who was shot in Longsight on 15 June.

Lee Amos, 32, of no fixed address, has been charged with the murder of and conspiracy to murder Mr Gilbert and conspiracy to murder Mr Chin.

Lee?

What the hell's with you, man?

Is everybody in the UK clued into the fact that handguns are illegal except you?

Where the hell have you been? We even know about it over here in America.

Pay attention! Wake the hell up!

The Usage Creeps

"I know that my son would not have died if he had not been Tasered and I know that he did not deserve the treatment he encountered at the Vancouver airport," Zophia Cisowski told a public inquiry into the use of the weapon.

Sorry, lady.

Judge Ted Schneiderman, aka "CSI Akron," says you're wrong.

I do like the term "usage creep," but I mean it as a personal description.