Snowflakes in Hell

I thought the evil National Rifle Assocation made lawsuits like this illegal?

As a follow up to the news that NRA managed to hammer out a deal with Congress to stop the gun registration shenanigans by Mayor Fenty and the DC Council, they have a released this statement:

Today, in a bi-partisan effort, Congressman Travis Childers, Congressmen John Dingell, John Tanner, Mike Ross and Mark Souder, along with 47 of their colleagues, introduced the Second Amendment Enforcement Act. This critical legislation overturns D.C.’s recently enacted emergency laws that continue to defy the recent Supreme Court ruling by continuing to restrict District of Columbia residents’ right to self-defense. This National Rifle Association-backed bill is needed to enforce the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller.

On June 26, the U. S. Supreme Court held in District of Columbia v. Heller that “the District’s ban on handgun possession in the home violates the Second Amendment, as does its prohibition against rendering any lawful firearm in the home operable for the purpose of immediate self-defense.” The Supreme Court clearly stated that handguns are constitutionally-protected arms because they are commonly used, are typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes, are considered by the American people to be the quintessential self-defense weapon, are the most popular weapon chosen by Americans for self-defense in the home and are the most preferred firearm in the nation to keep and use for protection of home and family.

The Second Amendment Enforcement Act will:

* Repeal the District’s ban on semi-automatic handguns. Semi-automatic pistols have been the most commonly purchased handguns in the United States over the last 20 years, and therefore a ban on those firearms is unconstitutional as decided by Heller;

* Restore the right of self-defense by repealing the requirement that firearms be disassembled or secured with a trigger lock in the home;

* Repeal the current D.C. registration system that requires multiple visits to police headquarters; ballistics testing; passing a written test on D.C. gun laws; fingerprinting; and limiting registration to one handgun per 90 days. The current system is unduly burdensome and serves as a vehicle for even more onerous restrictions; and

* Create a limited exemption to the federal ban on interstate handgun sales by allowing D.C. residents to purchase handguns in Virginia and Maryland. Currently there are no firearms dealers in the District of Columbia, and the federal ban prohibits residents from purchasing handguns outside of the District; therefore, District residents have no means of purchasing handguns.

Apparently Rusty’s appendix started acting up, and it had to go.  Squeaky is taking up a collection for a get well gift.

Breda has an Obama ad up that’s just absolutely craptacular.  The very last bit, where the chick represents your brain on hope, was almost enough to make me lose my lunch, which is odd because I haven’t eaten lunch yet.  I don’t say this ad is bad just because I don’t agree with it.  I think it’s just bad.  This kind of dreck people will tire of quickly.  This won’t resonate with that much of the American public, who aren’t feeling to hopeful just because “Obama is here!”

In fact, people born before the end of the cold war should just find this absolutely scary.  Obama really needs to stop hiring folks who admire Soviet propiganda artists, and who have spent entirely too much time trying to save petting zoos.  Honestly, it’s a testament to how bad our choices are that this guy isn’t getting clobbered.

UPDATE: Bruce has a good one too.

Apparently the NRA and Democrats have come to a compromise solution on enforcing the Heller decision by reforming The Districts gun laws.  The compromise bill will be introduced today.  I’ll let you know as soon as I hear of it.

I would have no billed him too.

The entire mole affair was the subject of much discussion between Bitter and myself. The Bradys are predictably acting like jilted lovers, which is only understandable.  Bitter predicted they would.  I thought they’d keep quiet about it, since who wants to admit, in a public place, that you’ve been suckered.  Bitter also thinks the information gleaned from this woman was probably worth whatever public relations price is going to be paid over the incident.  Information about legislative strategy, for instance, can tell NRA where they need to spend money, and where they don’t, and what fights they might need to conserve resources for.

I remain uncomfortable with what happened here.  I couldn’t do such a thing myself.  But Bitter and I agree on one, key item.  The Brady Campaign is dedicated to the elimination of one of the original ten amendments that comprise the Bill of Rights.  In essence, they are a group out to undermine the Constitution of the United States, which is the very basis of our Republic.  To accomplish that, they’ve willingly mislead the public about the nature of guns, and of gun owners, and willingly distorted and misrepresented facts and statistics.  They have done the media equivalent of tar and feather us.  Given that, is there really any tactic that’s too sleazy and too underhanded to use in order to defeat them?

Some of you may have been following the Kynn incident over at SayUncle.  I’m happy to see that we’re more in an apologetic phase, with both Uncle and Kynn issuing apologies.  But I wanted to address some points that Kynn made:

Okay, now, the first point — several people, including Mr. Uncle, have said “how could someone from a group who is attacked be as bigoted as to judge gun nuts as a group? What a bigot Kynn is!”

This comparison is pretty much laughable to me, as it would be to most people who have done any work in anti-bigotry activism: There’s obviously a big difference between characteristics such as one’s gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, and so on, and characteristics such as one’s beliefs regarding gun control, birth control, abortion, war, taxes, disco music, or choice of political candidate. Transphobia is not the same thing as being angry at everyone who supports (or opposes) the Iraq War. The latter is much more like gun control than being genderqueer is.

The truth is, it’s laughable to most people.  It may be a technically correct use of the term “bigot” to describe someone “obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices,” but in practical terms, “bigot” more often than not has racial connotations to most people who aren’t familiar with the true dictionary definition.

As much as I believe the fight for the second amendment is a civil rights struggle, that has parallels to other civil rights struggles in our nation’s history, I’ve always had a hard time getting over the fact that being a gun owner is a choice, whereas no one chooses to be Black, Hispanic, Native American, and, at least in my opinion, gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered.  In that sense, barring someone from a community because of his color just can’t, in my opinion, rank up there with barring someone from a community because he chooses to be a gun owner.  I do agree that the latter is a constitutionally protected right, but I can choose not to be a gun owner.  Someone can’t choose not to be black.

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s worthwhile pointing out that many people’s views of gun owners are prejudicial, and based on stereotypes; I have no problem turning the entire political correctness machinery around on folks who relish in using it on conservatives.  But I think we should be careful throwing the “b” word around.  That’s not to say it has no place; I’ve certainly used it in instances where a person had just displayed an unapologetic disdain from people who come from a certain (rural) culture.  But I don’t think it’s the first thing to brand someone with.  Appeals to tolerance, and pointing out that the some views might be based on stereotypes and prejudices, I think is just as effective.

Hopefully Kynn can appreciate that there are as many opinions as gun owners.  Some of us are pretty conservative, both socially and politically.  I would be a liar if I said there were no racists in the gun culture.  Some of us will stand for no gun laws, some of us are willing to live with a few.  But perhaps Kynn might be surprised to learn that there are a lot of us who don’t really have issues with the GLBT community, and who support issues like gay marriage.

Kynn and I would probably never consider ourselves political allies.  No doubt on most political issues, we’d probably work against each other.  But it does no one any good to alienate others based on prejudicial views.  Regardless of whether I vote for McCain over Obama, I will be an advocate from within the conservative movement for stronger acceptance of the people like Kynn, and a recognition that whether you agree that who they are is a lifestyle choice, or something imposed on them through genetics, they have a right to live how they want as free people, and to enjoy all the same benefits as other members of our society.

To me the tragedy is that we let our petty sqibbles get in the way of that far too often.  It’s very hard to win acceptance of rights that only have support from one side of the political aisle.  Just read Ilya Somin’s article on Gun Rights, Post-Heller.  Gun owners need to accept that we need the left to buy into gun rights, and the left needs to accept that they need to get conservatives to buy into things like gay rights.  That’s really the only way we’re both going to win.

I was in the market for a new belt, so I got myself a Kydex Reinforcd Countour Belt.  First impressions are that it’s a very sturdy belt, that provides a lot of support for the gun.  I’m using it with my Infidel holster, with the 1.5″ belt clip mounting option.  There is one problem with this option.

The belt is pretty thick, so the Infidel clip has a hard time getting a good hold on the belt.  There’s not quite enough space for the belt to come up all the way against the top of the clip.  I almost spilled the gun out of it earlier tonight, because it managed to work its way almost off the belt.  Needless to say, me getting up, and the gun staying on the chair, would be a minor problem in public.

I diagnosed that the clip could probably stand to have a bit more room up where the clip fastens on to the holster, so I added a washer between the holster and clip.  This seems to have mitigated the problem.  Comp-Tac might want to consider adding a spacer option to their product for people with thicker belts.  Especially since their own belt seems to be thick enough to create this problem with the Infidel belt clip option.

Overall, Comp-Tac makes an excellent holster product, and I’ve always been pleased with the speed at which they get their products to their customers.  The Smarties they ship with their products are a nice touch too.  I’m very hard on holsters, and have broken a few of the Pro-Undercovers in my time, but so far the Infidel is a solid product.

UPDATE: It just occured to me what was really exacerbating this problem.  I carry a 4:00, and wear LL Bean jeans.  LL Bean puts their leather patch right at 4:00, which increases the thickness of the jeans greatly.  Presumably removing the patch would also work, but I will still stand by my request for a spacer option to deal with the problem of thicker belts/clothing.

Bitter leaves the snark behind this time and talks about why folks should care that NRA’s Camp Perry Live blog has been a disappointment.  This started in a conversation where I said that people just didn’t care about this type of stuff.  She decided to explain why people should.

Looks like there was a mole in the gun control movement.  Usually when this kind of thing happens, paranoia sets in, and further people are suspected of being moles.  Hey Peter, Doug… Paul is a Republican.  From a very pro-gun state.  Haven’t you found that to be a little suspicious?  Just sayin.  If you want to find out the truth on this matter, I would suggest following these instructions.  My understanding is that it’s very effective.

But in all seriousness, I don’t know how much useful intelligence can actually be gleaned by this kind of activity.  I mean, the gun control groups aren’t exactly a secret society, and neither is the National Rifle Association.  Michael Moore is famously an NRA Life Member with an eye on getting other anti-gun folks to join and take over the organization.  It’s not a new idea.

I can’t say I really condone or approve of what McFate/Sapone did in this circumstance, mostly because, as a gun rights activist, I don’t really think whatever information can be gleaned from such activity is worth the amount of support I’d have to provide my political opponents to obtain it.  So says Bryan Miller:

The McFate operation, says Miller, “would confirm for me the way that the gun lobby works, which is no rules, no question of fairness or honesty. Anything that they can do they will do to protect the profits of the gun industry.”

Pot, meet kettle.  I agree with Bryan that tactics like this are dishonest, and not on the up and up, but there’s nothing fair or honest about politics, and the gun control movement has not exactly played clean and honest either.  Bryan, particularly, regularly misrepresents what legislation his organization supports is intended to do.  I would be happy to play the game clean… but if we did that, people would see the truth about gun control.  Can’t have that.

From Barack Hot for the Teacher Obama:

“I consistently believe that when it comes to whether it’s Native Americans or African-American issues or reparations, the most important thing for the U.S. government to do is not just offer words, but offer deeds.”

That’s a bit uncomfortably close to an endorsement of reparations.  I do not support reparations for slavery.  Reparations for slavery have already been paid.

We wish him the best.  Seriously… blogging is tough.  To do it well is a fair amount of work.  It’s something that occupies much of your waking thought.  At some points, it’s more of a burden than fun.  I can understand why folks get tired of it.  I am not very close to that myself, but in five years, who knows.  I imagine I will probably always have some sort of presence on Al Gore’s Internets, and I don’t see myself ever getting out of gun rights activism.

Kim is one of the early gun blogging pioneers, who, along with Bitter, SayUncle, and Jeff Soyer, were among the first to draw me into this corner of the Blogosphere.

Tom King, President of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, and NRA Board Member, asks about whether the ACLU has been in regards to a man who was disarmed by the police for communicating with Representative McCarthy about his displeasure at her support for gun control.   The comments have a few people on the left demonstrating they are all about outrage when rights they approve of are violated, but not so much when it’s Second Amendment rights.  I mentioned in the comments:

Congressional Offices deal with people who have weird and unusual ideas all the time. They deal with the old guys that don’t have anything better to do than call their representative’s office any time they want to bitch about something. This is par for the course for a Congress Critter.

It’s one of those, “If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.” I don’t care how much of a pain in the ass this guy was being to McCarthy’s office. It’s par for the course. You don’t send to police over to his house to violate his constitutional rights because he makes your life difficult. If they believe the man is mentally off balance, there is due process for determining such a thing. Police don’t get to unilaterally decide someone is a threat and strip them of their second amendment rights.

If he made a threat to Congresswoman McCarthy, then I want to know why charges haven’t been filed?  Threats are unlawful.  Communicating with your representative is not, even if those communications annoy them.

Blackfork, who’s competing at the National Championship at Camp Perry, has this to say:

Was just off the range and 600 yard line. Pushed into a crowd outside Rock River Arms on Commercial Row for the sixth RR Hot Dog. Sweaty, grimy, tired, unshaven, sunburned, heavily armed men all standing around the condiment table squeezing mustard and relish on seared pork by-products.
Feels like REAL America.

RTWT

TD sent his CZ away to get pimped out.  Looks pretty good.

So says Representative Mark Souder (R-IN) in the Washington Post this morning:

Sadly, since the announcement of the Heller decision, we have seen the D.C. Council continue to thumb its nose at the Constitution and defy a clear Supreme Court order by largely maintaining its draconian handgun ban.

Moreover, when Congress chose to delegate home rule to the District in the 1970s, it specified that legislation enacted by the District must be “consistent with the Constitution of the United States,” and it “reserve[d] the right, at any time, to exercise its constitutional authority as legislature for the District, by enacting legislation for the District on any subject.”

I do hope some folks in Indiana will consider volunteering for Rep. Souder’s campaign in this 2008 election.  We need to keep guys like this in office.  Rep. Souder is the sponsor of H.Res.1331, the bill to preempt City Council from regulating guns, and set DC’s gun laws to something close to federal law.

Looks like we’ll be supporting Project Valor IT once again in Reno.  That’s fine by me, since I thought Chuck did a fine job representing them in 2007, and it’s a great cause.  Everyone should come out to Reno on Oct 9-12 2008.  I will be there, along with other bloggers and readers.  Bring a lot of guns and ammunition, because there’s some good shooting out there at the Washoe County Regional Shooting Facility.  When we’re not shooting, the Car Museum in Reno is well worth a visit.  Also, don’t miss the fine buffets.

All bloggers and blog readers are welcome to attend.  Just head over to the site to get the details.

Due to pressure from gun control activists, Evanston, IL has decided to take no action on its gun ban.  Better lawyer up, Evanston.  This won’t be cheap or easy.

Hat Tip to Carl in Chicago

I was looking around for a toy I had when I was a kid.  Basically a water powered rocket that you pumped up, and it would launch about 30 feet in the air.

“Well, if it goes so far up, then surely it would fly a good distance horizontally, especially if I aimed it at…. my sister!”

Well, turns out it hurts really bad to get beamed in the head with a water rocket, so it was no more rocket propelled toys for me after that.  I figured almost certainly the Safety Nazi Nanny Staters would have banned that bit of fun by now, but no…  You can still buy one.  Of course, the same basic principle eventually leads to this:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6943201001782160188

I have obtained my EVC packet from the Evil League of Evil in Fairfax, which contained various gun nutty trinkets, scads of bumper stickers, a DVD which does not work with my Mac, a completely list of instructions, a list of contacts, secret decoder book, locations of safe houses, and cyanide tablet in the event of capture.

Now I just have to await the transmission from headquarters, which outline NRA’s political priorities for my district, along with endorsed candidates, and determine which campaigns we’re supporting, and who we can direct volunteers to

Can you imagine them producing anything like this today?   Interestingly enough, my neighbor worked for this very toy company, and they made all manner of politically incorrect toys, which we got to play with.  One, which I got to take home with me, was an automatic firing water pistol in the shape of an IMI Uzi.  It took batteries, because the stream was propelled by motorized action.  But it would fire as long as you held the trigger down, or until the (detachable) magazine ran dry.  That was back before parents were advised not to let their kids play with realistic looking guns, lest the police shoot them mistaking them for some crazed eight year old mass shooter.  You could even turn it into a flamethrower by putting various flammable liquids in the magazine, and holding an ignition source on the stream as it came out.  Not that I would ever do such a thing, mind you.

In terms of water guns, the super soakers the kids have today are probably a hell of a lot better than anything I ever had, but I probably would have burned my neighborhood down if I had had access to one.

How’s this for a walking psychotic contradiction:

But more charges await the 58-year-old man who authorities say has been frustrated by a lack of employment, a reduction of his food-stamp benefits and what he perceived as the liberal ruination of the United States.

OK, so you’re pissed off that liberals have ruined your country, and you’re pissed off that your food stamp benefits have been reduced.  Quiz time: Which political constituency consistently cries foul when welfare benefits are cut or reduced?

A federal judge has ruled there’s no unconstitutional property taking involved in Florida’s law allowing employees with Concealed Weapons Permits to carry to work.  He also ruled that the law does not violate OSHA standards.  I’ve said before that I don’t agree with the NRA’s push for these laws, both on pro-liberty grounds, and because I think resources would be better spent elsewhere, but I found the notion that OSHA regulations mandate a gun free workplace to be silly, and I’m happy to see that reasoning rejected.

Looks like Senator Stevens has been indicted in a corruption probe.  If the Republicans lose, and lose big this November, they will have only themselves to blame.  That’s not to say the Democrats are any better, given money in freezers, and a presidential candidate that hails from the city that put the “C” in Corruption.  But it makes me wonder:

The indictment released Tuesday said the items included: home improvements to his vacation him in Alaska, including a new first floor, garage, wraparound deck, plumbing, electrical wiring; as well as car exchanges, a Viking gas grill, furniture and tools.

I’m in the wrong line of work.  I just need a new patio roof and patio.  If that is Senatorial level graft and corruption, I figure a nice state level position would be enough to weasel a new patio out of someone.