Crackdown Smackdown

LEGALLY held firearms will be seized and destroyed by police if licences are not renewed on time, the PSNI in north Antrim has warned.

Hmmm...

Are You Sure You Don't Mean "Oblivious"?

Trolley Square survivor calls need for tighter gun laws
'obvious'...

Obviously.

And the fact that you were helpless--and saved by another man with a gun--is obviously of no relevance.

It's hard to feel sorry for some people--at least the ones who demand imposing their despicable abdication of responsibility for self defense on the rest of us--under force of arms. While planting daffodils outside a police station...

Good Lord.

On Shaky "Higher Ground"

A couple weeks ago, my boyfriend told me something that nearly brought me to tears.

"I bought a gun," he said.

Dude, I hope for your sake you're not considering marrying this silly little girl.

She starts to halfway get things right, but keeps reverting to inanities and hysteria. Why the proto-"authorized journalists" at The Teen Titan perceive this bipolar train of cognitive dissonance to be worth five pages is anybody's guess--probably because the ovine "thought" processes on display here mirror their own...

Which part of Europe did you say you were from, again, Aleksandra...?

Cry Havoc

THE THREE people leading the march up North Broad Street in the Gun Violence Survivor's Walk and Rally this week were a poignant reminder of the havoc guns play on lives.

Y'know, I've been told by "authorized journalists" that guns go off, kill, fire accidentally, threaten, and terrorize, all by their own selves from the reported accounts, but this is the first time I've heard of one playing havoc.

I wonder if I could teach one of mine to play piano?

I don't suppose it occurs to the hand-wringing editorial writer that the price of guns would go down considerably if they shucked all the useless prior restraints--and the societal cost of individuals committing violence with firearms would go down considerably if government stopped enabling predators and parasites.

Gun Amnesty Yields Its Bounty

Edmonton has the worst record in Canada for firearms homicides, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday...

The finding comes on the heels of a provincewide gun amnesty last year that allowed Albertans to hand over unregistered firearms without punishment.

Edmonton police Chief Mike Boyd said the service may discuss offering another such amnesty with the province.

Because the first one worked so well, no doubt.

Q.E.D. and all that. Maybe they should put up signs...

All in the Family

Antonia Gadson, whose 7-year-old son is accused of fatally shooting 8-year-old Liquarry Jefferson in June, was arraigned yesterday on charges of unlawful gun possession and trafficking more than 100 grams of cocaine in a school zone, which could send her to prison for 12 years if she is found guilty.

It was another turn in the tortured story of the Gadson family, whose long history of violence and tragedy became public after Liquarry's death.

If only we'd enact some "common sense gun control" and disarm you and me, these tragedies would never happen again.

Signs of the Times

"Gun-free zone" signs soon will go up around Richmond schools, the city's latest effort to curb violence.

Well then, all right.

Golly, Eric--It's a good thing there were no signs up!

"Recall Joaquin Jackson" Blog

We do not feel it is appropriate for an NRA director to disparage ownership of any type of firearm, and believe anyone who does should not sit on the board.

We discussed this yesterday. The site to coordinate this effort is now online. Click on the title link to find out more.

This Day in History: October 18

On October 18, 1775, six short months after the outbreak of fighting at Lexington and Concord, a British naval squadron under the command of Lt. Henry Mowatt bombarded and destroyed a large part of Falmouth (Portland) along with most of the port town’s commerce.

The Microstamping Loophole?

There's a discussion going on over at CalGuns about a possible wrinkle in California's new microstamping edict that may make implementation problematic:

Now what is really interesting is the line "provided that the Department of Justice certifies that the technology used to create the imprint is available to more than one manufacturer unencumbered by any patent restrictions." Right now one company (ID Dynamics) claims the patents (7111423 and 6886284 amongst others) to microstamping spent shells in firearms and subsequently reading them. Those patents are valid until about 2023 and I'm quite sure that Mr. Lizotte and Mr. Ohar claim that they are patent that occupy the entire field of firearm microstamping - kind of how NTP claims all of the space of push email against RIM/Blackberry and others. Since the legislature required that the technology be avialable from more than one provider and not encumbered by patent I'm quite confident that DOJ can not complete an OAL rulemaking that conforms with the legislation and Patent Law before the expiration of ID Dynamic's patents in 2023.

I'm not sure what bearing that really has, because the patent owner has "promised that the Microstamping technology would be provided royalty-free to firearms manufacturers with gunmaking facilities in the United States."

That said, I just don't seen an "out." Anybody with a different read on this?

[CalGuns link via Paul Nelson]

Joaquin Jackson Recall Underway

I was approached with a link to a Joaquin Jackson recall effort being discussed at GunThing forums. They asked my opinion and if I was interested in joining them.

As you see from my reply, I did have some reservations--I still do, but not enough to let these guys muster without me.

The same day, I found out there was an identical effort being promoted at Western Rifle Shooters Association. This one was more developed, and an actual petition has already been crafted.

I introduced the principals to each other and they are proceeding with the existing petition. I completed mine and mailed it in yesterday.

To sum things up, you must be an NRA Life Member or higher, OR an annual member of five years' standing. If you're not, you can still help by spreading the word.

A blog is being developed to be a central information repository and to provide updates. I'll post the url when it's ready to be released into the wild.

UPDATE: Sebastian thinks this isn't worth the effort. I left a comment wondering if his objections may provide the key to resolving this.

Take the Red's Trading Post Challenge!

Send this message to all 100 Senators (it took me a little over an hour) and then contact me and I will send you a Red's Trading Post Translucent tumbler (Fancy word for Traveling Mug). Good Luck and encourage others to do so as well.

I wrote Ryan back when he notified me of this post and urged him:

1. To require verification
2. To add the caveat "While supplies last."

I also wrote:

It seems one hour could be spent composing a list of every email address--if such doesn't already exist--that people could paste in their email "BCC" address bar--then--with a pre-prepared email, it could literally take supporters seconds to do this instead of an hour. I'll look into this and advise--if there is not any online list, and if people literally need to visit every senate website to fill out a form, we should compile a list of actual email addresses--you might want to save any email replies you get from them to compile such a list--I'm surprised the gun groups haven't done this already.

I spent some time blundering around Google and didn't find a consolidated list anywhere. What say we compile one, starting with the Senate.

If you help Ryan out in this and fill out the forms for the Senators, you should get some sort of confirmation email reply with an address--assuming it's not just an autoresponder that no one checks...Damn politicians making us jump through hoops to send 'em our wishes really grinds my gears (and yeah, I know about spam.)

Feel free to leave as many senate edresses as you can find in comments, below.

If a gunblogger who has the time and is looking to generate some traffic wants to take this on, I sure wouldn't mind...

Genocide Resistance

Whatever may be said about the U.S. House of Representatives committee vote concerning the use of the term “genocide” in reference to Turkey’s atrocities against the Armenians during World War I, two facts are indisputable: It was gun confiscation that made the atrocities possible. And it was the possession of firearms that saved many Armenians.

Read the latest from Dave Kopel & Paul Gallant, & Joanne D. Eisen.

We're the Only Ones Videophobic Enough

Officers wrote in their reports that Waterhouse ran off, they chased and then bean-bagged and Tasered him. One officer wrote, "He had refused to drop the camera which could be used as a weapon."

How's that for the new justification to keep citizen oversight at bay?

"The camera...could be used as a weapon" ?

Especially if he was deploying one of those assault cameras.

How can you tell? Easy--was he a mere citizen, or an "authorized journalist"?

Good Lord.

[Via Jeffrey H]

[More from "The Only Ones" Files]

Antis to Lie at Gun Show

The Million Mom March/Brady Campaign is planning a protest this Saturday at the C & E Gun Show at the Showplace in Richmond. They are planning a "lie-in" (boy, isn't THAT the truth!) at noon near the building. They plan on having women dressed in black to lie down for two-minutes to represent how long it took Cho to get his guns.

Why can't I get the image of Cartman doing skateboard jumps out of my mind?

[Via Clint K]

A 12th Century Mentality

A 12th-century common-law right becomes a cudgel to prevent common-sense regulations that could constrict the easy availability of weapons.

In a nutshell:

If we disarmed you, criminals who are forbidden by law to have weapons would become harmless. We should be more like England. I come out at the end and admit this wouldn't have had an effect on the latest shooting I'm prattling on about, but I'm smart and sophisticated and obviously not primitive like you, and this is how I define "common sense."

Fanatical certitude based on ignorance--talk about your 12th Century mentality. It's hard to recall the last time I read so much concentrated stupid in one place--at least by a grownup.

Oldsmoblogger has a more detailed take on this.

This Day in History: October 17

Finally on October 17, 1777, Burgoyne formally surrendered. Under the generous terms of the Convention of Saratoga, Burgoyne was allowed to march out of camp "with the Honors of War", which included retaining his colors and the return of his men to England. His 6,000 men marched out of their camp, surrendered their weapons and began their march west. However, when they reached New England, Gates' terms were not honored and the British soldiers spent months in sparse guarded camps.

Oh, and something else happened in 1781...

A Mugged Liberal

Randi Rhodes was mugged on Sunday night on 39th Street and Park Ave, nearby her Manhattan apartment, while she was walking her dog Simon.

According to Air America Radio late night host Jon Elliott, Rhodes was beaten up pretty badly, losing several teeth and will probably be off the air for at least the rest of the week.

Some are already floating the proposition--without any evidence--that "this an attempt by the right wing hate machine to silence one of our own..."

Speaking as a self-appointed minor functionary within that hate machine, let me just say how I wish Ms. Rhodes had possessed the means and the will to defend herself and either stop her attacker in his tracks or send him off howling in the darkness.

I wish she did not consider advocating gun rights to be "pimping,"and that she did not disparage those who advocate an armed citizenry as "nuts."

And I certainly don't mean to diminish the pain and horror she experienced. But I will note that the policies she advocates will enable future attacks on new victims, who will be compelled to either obey the law and suffer, or defy it and assume the legal risks of state retribution.

Why would anyone want to force another human being to make that choice?

I know the term has been bastardized over the years, but how is that even remotely considered "liberal"?

UPDATE: IT TURNS OUT SHE WASN'T MUGGED AFTER ALL. THIS WHOLE STORY IS APPARENTLY NOTHING MORE THAN LYING HYSTERIA FROM THE POLITICAL LEFT--AS IF THAT SHOULD SURPRISE ANYONE.

UPDATE 2: It's telling how the Democrat Underground is ready to form a lynch mob and "round up the ususal suspects" with absolutely no evidence other than their own paranoia and bigotry.

Oxnard Criminalizing Theft Victims

Oxnard will become the fourth city in Ventura County to approve a new gun control law that allows police to better track the sale of illegally purchased weapons.

...The ordinance requires gun owners to report stolen or lost firearms within three days of their disappearance or face misdemeanor charges. Owners who had guns go missing in the past five years will be required to report them within 90 days of the law’s adoption.

Criminals, of course, will be exempt. Fifth Amendment-articulated right against self-incrimination and all that.

Attempts to contact the National Rifle Association for further comment were unsuccessful.

Why am I suddenly thinking of a motivational poster titled "Leadership"?

Sure glad California has preemption. Or isn't registering stolen guns considered "registration"?

We're the Only Ones Hushing You Enough

The state's top law enforcement official is drawing criticism for encouraging the public not to answer reporters' questions about a north woods shooting by an off-duty sheriff's deputy that left seven dead, including the gunman.

Let's see...cop goes on murderous rampage...911 went continuously unresponded to...

Yeah, I can see where the "Only Ones" wouldn't want the people affected participating in any independent investigations.

Thing is, it's a small town. If someone does decide to talk freely and openly, will there be repercussions?

That chilling sensation must just be a blast of air coming down from the north across the lake...

[Via KABA Newslinks]