Dial 911 and...Hello...?

The sheriff's department in southern California's Orange County says the 911 emergency call system for much of the county has been repaired after an outage that shut it down for 90 minutes.

That, of course, would be the same sheriff's department that won't allow citizens to carry firearms for protection.

Sheriff's Lt. Ted Boyne says there were no reports of serious problems or unanswered emergency calls...

If true, they lucked out. But if you think about it, there's no way they can really be sure.

[Via avgJoe]

One of the "Good Guys"

And if we can't presume that the person in the black robes is one of the "good guys" in addition to being one of the likely targets, then why are we letting them decide our fates in court?

Beats me--if they were, you'd think we wouldn't get 5-4 decisions on the obvious.

[Via cycjec]

This Day in History: August 25

They have taken it into their heads, too, that we are cowards, and shall surrender at discretion to an armed force. The past and future operations of the war must confirm or undeceive them on that head.

Newsflash for "Sportsmen"

They're scared of you, too.

Material Gorn

I just snagged this current "Immaterial Girl" tour promo shot from Drudge:


Yeesh!

To each his own and all that, but I don't quite understand why anyone would do that to themselves.

And I couldn't help but think of this:

The Subject at Hand

The blogs bashing the NRA kinda irked me. You guys aren't making any points with that. I'd stick to the subject at hand.

Just what exactly does he think "the subject at hand" is?

And funny, what's considered "bashing" by some.

We're Mad as Hell and Not Going to Take it Any More

Residents in the north end of Hartford said they are fed up with the shootings in their area and are demanding answers from police.

Right there they're telling us they're not going to get any answers.

What I'm fed up with is volunteer inmates making demands that affect me and mine.

UPDATE: TJH point us to a different approach over at Shooting the Messenger.

In a Perfect World

"Of course, in a perfect world there'd be no guns, but you have to live in the world that exists."

I dunno, Brandon--in addition to their protective benefits, they're kind of fun, and shooting offers a great opportunity for cameraderie, be it with family, friends, or even strangers.

I guess a perfect world is in the eye of the beholder.

But you're on the right track with sensing a need to defend yourself and your family. Listen to those instincts. Follow them and learn.

An Alarming Development

Truro police officers responding to a burglar alarm at Manso's unoccupied house in December seized three firearms, including an assault rifle. The weapons lacked trigger locks and Manso did not have a valid firearms license, police said...

"I am charged with a technical violation of gun possession with an out-of-date permit by the very D.A. who is the focus of my book," Manso said in the statement.

Me, I'd be wondering who set off that alarm.

Look Back in Anger

Gun rights advocate David Codrea is an angry guy. For one thing, he is angry about what has happened to Second Amendment rights in America: Just seeing the title of his blog, The War on Guns, is enough to tell one that.

Lately, though, Codrea has been especially angry at Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr.

Not angry--just insistent on a straight answer. The Barr campaign and the LP addressing this early on and giving their side would have perhaps made all this unnecessary--that they still have not, and that George Dance thinks that's the politically smart thing to do--shows a fundamental disconnect with gun owners who are tired of the same old evasion they can get from either of the major parties.

Go read it yourself, and don't forget Part Two, where it's suggested I'm being "misrepresentative." I'll probably have something to say about that in a few days.

Calling All Spies!

Deane Calhoun, Executive Director, Youth Alive Paul Helmke, President, The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence Paul L. Seave, Director, Gang and Youth Violence Policy, Office of the Governor Garen Wintemute, professor of emergency medicine and director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at UC Davis

So, the subversives are going to have a gathering to discuss how they can pressure government to further implement the destruction of the Republic...

Location: The Blue Room at the Commonwealth Club

September 8, 2008
Starts at 05:30 PM

Cost:
Members and Students FREE, Non-Members $18
Location:
The Commonwealth Club
595 Market St.
2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105

Who's in that area and can attend?

I see a few potential scenarios: One or two of you can go, and if you sneak in a recording device, we can get some hot Mary McFate-type insider intel on their plotting. Alternatively, a bunch of you from local gun clubs can go down and dominate the meeting just by a being a visible pro-gun presence, and especially during any Q&A by challenging the lies.

I was thinking of just approaching a few of you privately, but this is more fun, putting this out there where the gungrabbers can see it. Now they're going to freak at the possibility that every non-member paying a fee that night might have an agenda of his own. Heck, our "moles" might even have CCWs and be secretly carrying their guns! And by announcing this publicly, it will have the added benefit of heightening hoplophobic angst even if no one from our side shows up at all--because, as we keep trying to tell them--when things are concealed, no one knows for sure.

I actually prefer the first option--at $18 a pop, you don't want to enrich their coffers too much, plus a covert presence adds to the overall level of uncertainty. My recommendation for gun owners in the area--have fun with this.

Sanctuary

An immigrant suspected of being in the United States illegally - freed after being shielded from possible deportation by San Francisco officials despite committing two gang-related assaults as a juvenile - faces charges that he tried to stab a man to death last year in San Mateo County, authorities say.

From the city that says you must be disarmed.

The real criminals are running the sanctuary.

UPDATE: Oh, look, even more...

The Letter

We talked about this here.

AR15.com found a copy.


The thought struck: I know someone who carries a .40 Glock--we all do.

I wonder if they have one of those anonymous tip lines...?

[Via Anonymous]

This Day in History: August 24

On August 24, around midnight, Capt. John Lamb, under orders from the New York Provincial Congress, began dismantling the cannons in Battery Park. They were removing the cannons to place them at a safe site. Capt. George Vandeput, of the HMS Asia, sent a bargeload of his British troops to investigate. They fired a shot to warn Vandeput that something was going on with the Americans. Lamb's men fired on the American barge, killing 1 man. The HMS Asia opened fire on Battery Park and alarms sounded on shore. Expecting their city to be attacked and pillaged, many residents fled, the beginning of a general exodus to New Jersey and Long Island. Conclusion: British Victory

The Quiet Man

I'll take substance over style any day. And even though I knew what was coming practically from the start, I still enjoyed the hell out of the ending.

As long as you're over at Whose Paranoid's, he's added the old Sierra Times "Whack 'em & Stack 'em" archives to his "Resource" links (along with The "Only Ones" Files).

We're the Only Ones Not Faking it Enough

"If you are asking if I had an orgasm, yes. It was a job, sir," Breiner said. "I didn't have pleasure doing this. I was paid to do it."

Isn't there a term for that?

But don't worry: Sweetie is going to stand by her man.

Miss Wynette?

Sometimes it's hard to be a woman
Giving all your love to just one man
You'll have bad times
And he'll have good times
Doin things that you don't understand
But if you love him
You'll forgive him
Even though he's hard to understand
And if you love him
Oh, be proud of him
Cause after all he's just a man

Not just a man, Tammy, an "Only One"!

CHANGE!

Barack Obama named Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware as his vice presidential running mate early Saturday, balancing his ticket with a seasoned congressional veteran well-versed in foreign policy and defense issues.

Don't you just love the way the "Authorized Journalists" spin things right from the get-go?

A six-term Beltway insider? What the hell happened to "Change"?

We know nothing will change in relation to democrat attacks on gun ownership.

And if you really want to experience a few moments of hopelessness, go watch the video clip posted here to see how our next president will be selected.

I wonder if Biden will plagiarize his acceptance speech?

To Catch a Spy

What with all this Mary McFate brouhaha, now seems a pefect time to resurrect this story--about how anti-gun "researcher" Garen Wintemute has been infiltrating gun shows to spy on private transactions.

Which gun shows? It's tough to predict. In his initial Joyce Foundation-funded "study," he went to "28 gun shows — eight each in California and Nevada, six in Arizona, four in Texas and two in Florida..."

What's he currently up to--if anything?

Wintemute now plans to conduct “parallel studies” in other regions of the country that compare gun shows in more regulated states to gun shows in less regulated states. Eventually, he hopes to train others to become observers at gun shows — and possibly to go one step further than he did and notify local police when they witness an illegal transaction.

So there's really no telling--but we can--with very little effort, not only make his subversive mission more difficult, but make a game out of it and have some fun in the process.

May I suggest, along the lines of "Where's Waldo?":

Where's Wintemute?

WarOnGuns correspondent Michael S has kindly converted my flyer into a .pdf file suitable for making copies. If you go to a gun show, take a few with you--give one to the event promoters to alert them of a potential spy in their midst with a recording device. Ask them to post copies and notify their dealers.

And feel free to send gun show proprietors and dealers you know a link to this post.

Maybe we can find him and get his ass thrown out--and expose the feigned outrage from those who would see us disarmed for the hypocrisy it is.

Weakonomics

Are there more guns in the U.S. or more opinions about guns?

...today we present a quorum with a very narrow focus: what are some good ideas to cut gun deaths?

Here's my reply.

Why not leave a comment of your own?

[Via Less]

We're the Only Ones Fulfilling the Prophecy Enough

A 12-year Superior police officer has been charged with second-degree assault for allegedly pulling a gun and pointing it at a motorist in the parking lot of a Two Harbors service station in an apparent road rage incident on Sunday.

In fairness, the Brady's did predict we'd have "gun violence" over minor traffic incidents. They just didn't tell us how many of them would be initiated by enraged "Only Ones."

[Via Russell S]