Snowflakes in Hell

Looks like CNN is busy printing Brady Campaign lies about “assault weapons” once again.

He lays the blame squarely on lawmakers who allowed the assault weapons ban to expire in 2004.

Designed to be fired from the hip, assault rifles such as the AK-47 can spray at a rate of up to 600 rounds a minute in full automatic mode. It is the weapon of choice for guerillas and gangsters.

I mean, why even bother to fact check?  John Timony also makes an appearance, once again.

According to the Star-Ledger:

“Technically anyone who carries an operable firearm without a carry permit at re-enactments is in violation of New Jersey gun law,” said Mueller, adding that the Wild West City case “is a perfect example of what could happen. It’s dangerous.”

During a dramatization at the Dodge City theme park on July 7, 2006, a bullet struck re-enactor Scott Harris, 37, in the forehead and caused severe brain damage. Harris is still recuperating from the injury.

It is generally illegal to carry a gun without a permit, although there is a laundry list of exceptions. Historical re-enactments and film, television or theatrical productions are not among those exceptions. Existing law has not been strictly enforced regarding re-enactments and entertainment productions, they said.

New Jersey already closed the “musket loophole” so it’s technically illegal to tool around an old battlefield re-enacting the Battle of Monmouth.  Remember that guns are illegal in New Jersey.  You can only possess them under certain enumerated exemptions, and re-enacting is not one of them.

Aside from the fact that the Brady’s link to few verifiable facts in their latest tirade against gun shows, we can point out at least a few problems:

Remember: unregulated gun show sales are how Eric Harris and Dylan Kleybold got their guns before they murdered 12 and wounded 22 others at Columbine High School.

I know you guys aren’t going to believe this, but the Brady’s statement here is is completely misleading.

Several months before the Columbine massacre, the killers obtained firearms from two suppliers. The first was a 2-year-old Columbine graduate named Mark Manes (ironically, the son of a longtime Handgun Control, Inc., activist). Manes bought a pistol at a gun show and gave it to the two killers (who were under 18 at the time).

Colorado law prohibits giving handguns to juveniles, with certain exceptions, and Manes is currently serving time for this offense in a Colorado prison. The second supplier was an 18-year-old fellow student at Columbine, Robyn Anderson, who bought three long guns for the killers at a Denver-area gun show in December 1998.

Both Manes and Anderson were lawful gun purchasers and could legally have bought the guns from a firearms dealer at a gun store, a gun show, or anywhere else.

What the Brady’s want to do here is to villainize gun shows, which, because none of us can buy firearms over the Internet, are really the only way people can generally find what they are looking for without going to 20 different gun stores. At least 1/3rd of my collection was purchased at a gun show. The private sale issue has nothing to do with gun shows, and they know it.

… bought an arsenal of his own, “including a Sten submachine gun, a Ruger Mini-14 rifle, two pistols and a hunting rifle.”

No one is buying off the books unregulated submachine guns anywhere and not violating some very serious federal laws.  They know that too.

I have to offer congratulations to Congressman Ron Paul for raising more money in a single day than any of the other Republican candidates.  I agree with Bitter that fund raising success won’t necessarily translate into electoral success, but it better at least signal to the Republican establishment that libertarian ideals, and a committed and passionate stand in favor of them can bring something to the table.

I am still a Fred Thompson supporter, but to be honest, I was expecting Fred to hit the ground running once he announced, and lately, it just kind of seems like he’s phoning it in.  I’m not sure Fred is going to make it, and given the choice between Ron Paul, Guiliani, Romney, or registering as a Democrat to vote for Richardson, Ron Paul is starting to look better and better.

To be honest, if there weren’t a war going on, it wouldn’t even be a question, but there is.  I elect a President with two major considerations; who they are going to put on the Supreme Court, and their foreign policy.  I think I dig Ron Paul on the former, but his views on the latter scare me.  But then again, this might end up just being a message to the Republican Party that I’m sick of their crap, and want something different.

John J. Kelly III, Middletown Township Supervisor, managed to send out a flyer this week that convinced me to vote for the guy. You see, John Kelly is apparently under the delusion that he lives in Utah:

I think a bar/restaurant there is a fine idea! I firmly believe that a person ought to have the freedom to start a small business without some local political worm telling them “Sorry, but I think there are too many bars in Middletown Township!” because he gets off on power.

And what’s with the Chuck E. Cheese reference? Last I checked, Chuck E. Cheese sold beer and had a liquor license. Don’t give me crap about protecting children. I’m not worried about the presence of a bar corrupting kids, but I’m very concerned about a citizen’s ability to start a small business.

Great job Middletown Township Republicans, you just convince me to vote for Democrats!

UPDATE: Breda thinks if these worms think a pub next to Chuck E. Cheese is a problem, Ireland would make their heads explode.

By all indications, the shooting sports are growing, with the exception of hunting, which has been in decline.  But every time I go attend an event at my shooting club, I can’t help but wonder something: “Where the hell are all the young people?”  Where are the guys in their 20s and 30s?  If I go to a public range, I typically see a good mix of the young and the old.  Same if I go to my local indoor range.

But all the club events I’ve gone to, it’s been like a geriatric festival.  Are young people not into shotgun sports, silhouette or high power?  What can we do to get young people more involved at the shooting sports and into shooting clubs?

I’m not sure I have the answer, but I suspect the reason is that the barrier to entry for a lot of these clubs is high.  You typically have to know someone, and go through a process of being inducted into the club.  I think if we’re to be evangelical in our enthusiasm for the shooting sports, we have to work on ways to lower barriers to entry.

I think our club actually does a pretty good job in this regard, and we’re not hurting for membership, but it’s discouraging to think that a lot of the shooting sports are aging, and young people don’t seem to be stepping up.  I know the young shooters are out there, but I think a way must be found to bring them into the traditional shooting sports.

Looks like they caught Officer Chuck Cassidy’s killer:

Two days after the shooting, John Lewis had the audacity to appear in court for an unrelated drug possession case. Knowing full well that he just murdered a police officer, Lewis still appeared in court, surrounded by fellow officers. We did not know at the time that he was Chuck’s killer.

Chuck’s service weapon was recovered yesterday in his Lewis’ cousin’s residence on Fairhill Street. During his questioning, the cousin admitted he helped get Lewis flee the city by driving him to a bus station, and Lewis escaped to Miami, Florida.

I’m hoping the cousin is facing charges as well.  I can’t believe he was stupid/arrogant enough to appear in court after the shooting.

Both Ryan and Uncle have posts going today about this guy. Yesterday I pointed out the reason he was forced out was that he was willing to make too many deals, in order to reach a middle ground. I also feel I should point out that Feldman was big on being a media darling too. I managed to dig up an incident from 1998 that points this out:

Even before the summits began, Sarah Brady, Handgun Control Inc. (HCI), sent a note to Feldman, acknowledging his presence in town and challenging him to meet her in the emergency room of the District of Columbia General Hospital to see, in her words, the suffering caused by Feldman’s efforts on behalf of the gun industry.

Feldman accepted the challenge and arrived at the hospital at the appointed hour, but Brady did not show. There were, however, members of the news media present, waiting to record the showdown. Rather than touring the hospital, Feldman sent Brady a note stating he found it “inappropriate to subject the hospital’s patients to a media event which might cost lives. You, more than most, can appreciate the personal trauma of an injured or ill loved one, and how wrong it would be to be used as a media prop at this vulnerable time. An emergency room is not an appropriate place to debate solutions to our nation’s crime problem.”

The Brady’s played him like a harp, and delivered the gun manufacturers an embarrassing media faux pas. I’m not even a media person, and even I know that the proper response to something like that is to ignore it. I doubt Sarah Brady thought he’d actually be dumb enough to show, but he didn’t disappoint.

It’s election day in Pennsylvania, which means I need to go vote, something I seldom enjoy doing.  On the ballot are county and township offices, as well as Supreme Court, and Superior Court seats.  I’ve decided to go Democrat at the township level, and you’ll see why later.  Guns are off the table because of preemption, no need to worry about that.

County wide, I’m going Republican, mostly to fight this “regionalism” concept I keep hearing out of Democrats.  Regionalism goes like this: The suburbs have been traditionally Republican and don’t often vote with the City of Philadelphia.  The suburbs are increasing trending Democrats, and will soon start to vote more in line with the City of Philadelphia.   Well, suburban Democrats, if that’s what you’re selling, I’m not buying it.  I mean, the city politicians are doing such a bang up job!  I want a my politicians to tell me “City politicians have turned Philadelphia into a sewer.  Why do we want to bring that to the suburbs?”   Of course, no one will say that, but screw it, I’m voting Republican to keep the county in Republican hands, so suburban Democrats don’t get any ideas.   Silly, I know, but I don’t know the county candidates from a hole in the ground otherwise.

For the court stuff, I’m just going with the NRA endorsements.  I don’t know anything else about these guys other than they have great families, and love kittens.  That’s all court candidates ever talk about anyway.  Plus, I’m still really mad about the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling the state police could keep a registry of firearms, even though there’s a state law that specifically forbids that.  If you’re willing to do that, what does it say about your respect for the law?

Either way, off I go to push buttons on our newfangled electronic voting fraud machines.   Fun fun!