Every Blade of Grass--An Open Letter to Toyota Management

In re: “Toyota Awards $1.12 Million in Scholarships to 100 High School Seniors” (PR Newswire)

“Theodoros Milonopoulos, a Toyota Community Scholar residing in Los Angeles, is a prime example of the dedication to community service exhibited by this year's class. Through his leadership and effort in the area of gun control, the City of Los Angeles banned .50 caliber sniper rifles, plus reauthorized the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. Also, this Scholar - along with the Los Angeles Police Department - organized a rally where 2,000 crime guns were melted down.

“Consequently, Milonopoulos, like many of the Scholars, found community service to be the roadmap to what he wants to do in the future. ‘I plan to become a lawyer after studying constitutional law. It is my dream to serve in Congress so that I can continue to be the voice for our nation's youth.’"

Congratulations, idiots. You just lost all future business from me and every gun owner reading this who cares about the Second Amendment.

Perhaps you think America is ripe for Japanese-style gun control.

You are outrageously mistaken.

As Admiral Yamamoto is reputed to have said, “You cannot invade America. There is a rifle behind every blade of grass.”

It’s going to stay that way—no matter what subversion blossoming tyrant wannabes like foolish little Theo and his enablers, like you, dream up.

You couldn’t just sell cars and trucks, and not tamper with sacred institutions in your host country? You had to go and make an enemy of men like me?

I’ve seen what happens when Japan succeeds in disarming its victims. I note the Japanese government still hasn’t apologized to the people of China for the Rape of Nanking. It looks like Japan is none too popular there right now.

I’m going to do what I can to make sure Toyota Motor Sales, USA, is none too popular here.

You can do one of two things:

1. Fire the idiots responsible for awarding Theo his grant and apologize to American gun owners, or
2. follow Mr. Garrison’s advice.

[Thanks to Say Uncle for the tip on this.]

Newsweek Has Killed More People than My Gun AND Teddy Kennedy's Car

10/05/15 UPDATE: This post is from 2005, so the internal links no longer work. Here's a relevant link that still does.

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Doc Brown at Right Justified refers us to a Reuters story on how incompetent and irresponsible reporting at Newsweek resulted in Muslim riots, leaving 16 dead and 100 injured.

Newsweek, of course, is a leading shill for the citizen disarmament crowd.

John Lott, in “Media Bias Against Guns” tells us:

“The 1999 special issue of Newsweek entitled ‘America Under the Gun’ provided over 15,000 words and numerous graphics on the topic of gun ownership, but not one mention of self-defense with a firearm. Under the heading ‘America's Weapons of Choice,’ the table captions were: ‘Top firearms traced to crimes, 1998’; ‘Firearm deaths per 100,000 people’; and ‘Percent of homicides using firearms.’ There was nothing at all on ‘Top firearms used in self-defense’ or ‘Rapes, homicides, and other crimes averted with firearms.’ The magazine's graphic, gut-wrenching pictures all showed people who had been wounded by guns. No images were offered of people who had used guns to save lives or prevent injuries.”

Per NRA, Newsweek is one of the “publications and media outlets [that] have assisted in the attack on Second Amendment rights. The editorial policies of some of the media sources listed portray firearms in a negative manner in an attempt to generate public support for restrictions on firearms ownership.”

Forget the title of this article.

How about “Newsweek Has Killed More People than Ted Bundy”?

Or “Newsweek Has Killed More People than the Manson Family”?

Guess What I'M Reading?

A STADIUM MASSACRE LEADS TO THE BANNING OF ALL SEMI-AUTOMATIC RIFLES. BUT WHO REALLY FIRED THE FATAL SHOTS, AND WHY?

I wish author Matthew Bracken hadn’t sent it to me. I’m working 7 days a week on my real job, many of those days over 12 hours. I’m up every morning early to post to this blog. I have the magazine deadline to worry about. A wife and two kids need my attention. The lawn doesn’t do itself.

And now I’m addicted to a massive page-turner.

I’m halfway through.

I can’t wait to get back.

There are free preview chapters you can check out online. Then do yourself a favor and BUY THIS BOOK.

I’ll be writing more about this later in my copious free time.

It’s really, really good.

NRA Filibusted

“The NRA has made no statement for or against the ‘nuclear option’. It has tried to please conservatives by posting news updates that are exclusively anti-filibuster and have posted no reference to conservative groups or authors that oppose the change in filibuster rules. The NRA has tried to salve Democrats by pointing out that they have not come out in support of any filibuster rule change.”

Typical Fairfax straddling and equivocation to protect their precious access above all else. John J. Cahill’s conclusion is that we members "should be proud" of this.

Sorry, Mr. Cahill—been down this road of avoidance and plausible deniability before. I don’t respect it in men and I don’t respect it in groups.

Wish I'D Said That

"Well, there ya go. Victims are always right, after all. Suffering a tragedy bestows infallibility upon the victim – a kind of karmic reward for having lost something.

"Which is why it makes so much sense to base law and policy on the hysterical ravings of angry, freaked-out victims. They and they alone possess the clarity of thought and the kind of wise, sober, carefully crafted ideas that make for good policy."

From Say Uncle via Drug War Rant, credited to Independent Worm at Hit and Run.

Federal Glass Control?

Why not? They issue mandates on toilet tanks.

Anyway, I was listening to the radio in my car yesterday, and the "news" had a story on about the recent "spate" of SoCal freeway shootings.

It seems the herbivores are getting spooked, and those with means are looking at ways to improve their chances in such an encounter. Inquiries to a local "bullet proof glass" installer have increased enough to where the station considered it worth interviewing the guy.

I didn't catch all the details, but the gist of his quote was you couldn't buy and install such glass without a federal permit.

That should come as news to Bulldog Direct Protective Systems Inc., "your 'One Stop Source' for Bullet Resistant Products for the Home, Office, or Vehicle."

According to their FAQ:

"Purchasing and Installing Bullet Resistant Glass Systems in the USA is perfectly legal. No Police or government permit is required. We do suggest contacting your local building / fire inspector with regards to building codes, inspections or / permits needed."

So what gives?

Is the news wrong or spreading disinformation?

Has some new "Homeland Security" edict come into play that Bulldog doesn't seem to know about?

I do know there are edicts regarding body armor.

Welcome to the Land of the Second Amendment--where you not only can't possess the means to actively defend yourself in many locales, but the means to passively protect yourself are also denied

Another Wal-Mart Capitulation

“Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said yesterday that it made a 'terrible' mistake in approving a recent newspaper advertisement that equated a proposed Arizona zoning ordinance with Nazi book-burning.

“The full-page advertisement included a 1933 photo of people throwing books on a pyre at Berlin's Opernplatz. It was run as part of a campaign against a Flagstaff ballot proposal that would restrict Wal-Mart from expanding a local store to include a grocery.

“The accompanying text read ‘Should we let government tell us what we can read? Of course not . . . So why should we allow local government to limit where we shop?’”

“[T]he company will also issue a letter of apology to the Arizona Anti-Defamation League.”

"’It's not the imagery itself. It trivializes the Nazis and what they did. And to try to attach that imagery to a municipal election goes beyond distasteful,’ said Bill Straus, Arizona regional director for the ADL.”

Too bad. Wal-Mart had it right the first time. They should tell the punks at the ADL to check their history and then go to Hell. It always starts with controls and bans and regulations, and no one having the guts to call it naked tyranny.

Let ‘em get away with the smaller outrages (and since when are property rights “trivial”?), let ‘em amass more and more power, and pretty soon you have rulers who know that the way to increase their power is to control and oppress.

ADL, of course, is virulently anti-gun.

Which makes them tyranny and genocide enablers.

Real ID From "The Blog of M'Gath"

"If even a handful of states refuse to comply, they can place Washington in a very embarrassing position.

"Let's start with New Hampshire."

Real ID Rebellion Blog

Sunni Maravillosa has created a blog to coordinate resistance to the Real ID Act.

Go on over and have a look--and join the rebellion.

Pass it on.

The Real ID Rebellion

Bill St. Clair is angry.

Claire Wolfe advises us all to stay that way.

Back when suppression of political speech under threat of lethal force, I mean, "campaign finance reform" started going after bloggers, the McCain-Feingold Insurrection was born.

Why not The Real ID Rebellion?

Blogswarm, anyone?

"Black Arrow" Available Now

I just got the following reminder from Mountain Media:

A number of blog posters have remarked this week that they intend to buy "The Black Arrow" later, "when it's available."

We'd take it as a favor if you'd remind them that the $24.95 paperback edition of "The Black Arrow" went on sale 27 days ago, on April 15. It *IS* and has been available for immediate shipment for more than a month from Liberty Book Shop, or at $27.95 (postpaid) from Mountain Media, 3172 N. Rainbow Boulevard, Suite 343, Las Vegas, NV 89108. We ship within 24 hours.

The paperback edition of "The Black Arrow" is also in stock and for sale NOW from Amazon.com, though Amazon warns they can take two weeks or more to ship.

Waiting for "The Black Arrow" to show up in your local Border's or Barnes & Noble will be fruitless. The cookie-cutter corporate bookstores refuse (and have always refused, so this has nothing to do with any "sex scenes," or any determination that The Black Arrow "sucks") to stock Vin's books, despite our listing the book in all the proper directories; including proper ISBNs (International Standard Book Numbers) and bar codes; sending the bookstopre chains and ALL the national reviewers "bound galley" review copies 90 days early; offering them 50 percent wholesale discounts, and jumping through all their other hoops.

It's about guns and drugs and freedom.

"The Black Arrow" is available now, and will likely never be any more "available." Order now. The collector's numbered, leatherbound first edition is half gone.

-- Mountain Media

Why the leatherbound edition isn't ALL gone is beyond me. Many in the "pro-gun" community talk big but contribute little, and patronize liberty writers even less.

It's a good book. If you haven't read it, you should. It's entertaining, full of adventure. It unfolds like a movie. And it presents ideas that make TPTB uncomfortable as Hell, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

I just got the green light from GUNS Magazine to do a review. I'll post more on that in a few months, when it hits the stands.

America is Dead--Long Live Amerika

Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership weighs in on the implications of the Real ID Act for gun owners.

Create a problem.

People demand relief from the effects of the problem.

Create a solution to further your control of them.

And, oh yeah, make 'em submit or be destroyed.

How very elegant.

Works every time.

You HAVE No Rights

TriggerFinger gives us the rundown on Bach v Pataki.

Another set of black robes rule the Second Amendment doesn't mean what it says.

Keep squeezing.

"Gun Bullies"

There's a new term for ya. Expect to hear it again, and often.

Every gun activist I know thinks people should be perfectly free to make idiotic choices for themselves. All we ask is that you don't try to impose your lack of rationality/desire for control on us.

The side that imposes the armed might of the state, with the ultimatum "Obey or die," feels threatened?

Good--it's about damned time.

Like someone said (paraphrased), "If gun owners are really violent and dangerous, why are you provoking them?"

[Thanks to KABA Newslinks. Say Uncle also adds value to the discussion.]

Will Self-Replicating Machines Engage in Foreplay?

This isn't gun-related, but I think it's a cool subject for speculation:

Rational Review has a link to a science/technology story at The Independent, "Stuff of sci-fi nightmares? An army of robots that reproduce."

This is not a new concept--and its originator, John von Neumann, is not mentioned in the article, let alone acknowledged with the credit he deserves.

"He created the field of cellular automata without computers, constructing the first examples of self-replicating automata with pencil and graph paper. The concept was fleshed out in his posthumous work Theory of Self Reproducing Automata. The term von Neumann machine also refers to self-replicating machines. Von Neumann proved that the most effective way large-scale mining operations such as mining an entire moon or asteroid belt can be accomplished is through the use of self-replicating machines, to take advantage of the exponential growth of such mechanisms."

Naturally, this fostered speculation on what would happen if information being passed on from one machine to its "offspring" somehow became corrupted, and the "mutation" proved advantageous in its environment. Well, you see where this is going...

Project Disarmed Neighborhoods

Project Safe Neighborhoods is training cops to spot people keeping and bearing arms. Even those minding their own business, as well as those who live in areas where the government thinks it has the authority to issue permits--and then doesn't.

From the International Association of Chiefs of Police:

"Courses offered through PSNET and other PSN related trainings:

"Characteristics of Armed Persons

"This session is designed to aid law enforcement officers in identifying persons who are unlawfully carrying concealed firearms. Based on thoughtful conclusions drawn from fundamental, common sense observations, this training will enable officers to make clear observations and distinctions of some of the more common characteristics demonstrated by individuals who carry concealed firearms. The identification of offenders carrying concealed weapons, before the weapons are used, can be essential to the prevention of violent crimes."

And guess who "fully supports" PSN?

"'The NRA and our over four million members fully support the Justice Department's Project Safe Neighborhoods,' said National Rifle Association spokeswoman Kelly Whitley. Whitley said the project, which includes the grant for additional prosecutors, was based on a similar project in Richmond, Va., where violent crime dropped 70 percent in two years."

Kelly, that's simply not true. I'm an NRA Life Member. I don't support this unconstitutional outrage.

And funny thing about Richmond: Their murder rate is climbing while national numbers decline.

"The project also is popular with gun control proponents."

What, the LaPierre Center to Prevent Gun Violence, formerly National Rifle Control, Inc., isn't considered one?

Guess who else is on the PSN bandwagon?

"'We think that Project Safe Neighborhoods is a step in the right direction,' said Amy Stilwell, spokeswoman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence."

See that, NRA management? "A step." As in the journey isn't completed.

Note to the Fairfax suits. Gun control doesn't work. You really ought to have faith in your own findings.

That is, assuming you're not just talking out of both sides of your mouth.

Again.

"It is Better to Remain Silent and Be Thought a Fool…

...than open one's mouth and remove all doubt."

Somebody ought to let Calvin Floyd in on that.

“If scientists can send a radio signal to a robot on Mars or on a moon of a more distant planet to order its movement,” he asks, “then why don't we require small-arms and rifle manufacturers to install chips right into the grips and stocks of weapons that will radiate a detectable signal?”

Because it’s a monumentally stupid idea, Calvin. But I’m sure the politicians and cud chewers will love it.

[Use BugMeNot to bypass site registration. Thanks to KABA Newslinks.]

Why Not Just Let the Burglars Select Our Watchdogs?

"Chris Simcox, the owner and publisher of Arizona's Tombstone Tumbleweed and a co-founder of the Minuteman Project, says he was denied entry to a press conference with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff."

What have we been saying about the government deciding who qualifies to be a journalist?

The New McCarthyism

"Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) today introduced legislation to prevent individuals convicted of felonies in foreign countries from purchasing firearms in the U.S...McCarthy's bill amends current law to state that a person "convicted in any court, including any foreign court, of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year" shall not be able to possess a firearm...McCarthy's bill allows the courts to determine the validity of foreign convictions in disputed cases. 'This clause will protect individuals convicted in courts of questionable jurisdiction or legitimacy,' said McCarthy."

Let's see, China, where selling Bibles will get you a felony conviction, is on our favored nations list, so their jurisdiction must be legitimate.

It seems to me the delegated powers relating to Congress and the courts have already been defined--not that we'd expect the distinguished representative from New York to read the Constitution.

Why are we letting rapists and murderers into the country might be a better issue to address.

[via KABA Newslinks]

Black Arrow Update

Fran Tully at Free West is not pleased with Laissez Faire Books.

Meanwhile, Claire Wolfe leads us to J.D. Tuccille’s review of The Black Arrow.