Snowflakes in Hell

A fine example of the art of “tagging” in the late 18th Century that I have managed to dig up ;)

We have the results for our June E-Postal Match, Silhuetas Metálicas.  Let me start off by apologizing to everyone for the extreme difficulty of this match!  I scored what I typically score during my IHMSA matches, which is about half the animals, so it was a good approximation of the sport to some degree.  Despite its difficulty, we have some shooters who would make pretty good silhouette shooters if they tried out an IHMSA match.

Class 1 - Rimfire, Iron Sights

¹ Shot at 11 yards
² An apt demonstration that Saturday Night Specials do have a sporting use, especially if you don’t mind running up really close to the target to “pop a cap” in the ass of the animal, which is about the only way you’ll increase the odds of hitting it. Still, I’d take a 3 shooting a SNS at 10 yards at those little things!

Class 2 - Rimfire with Optics

¹Shot at 7 yards.  Because Yuri shot at 7 yards, I would consdier him to be tied for first with Conservative UAW Guy

Class 3 - Centerfire Iron

¹Shot at 11 yards.

Class 4 - Centerfire with Optics

Class 5 - Rimfire Rifle, Iron Sights

Class 6 - Rimfire Rifle with Optics

Bonus Class - Masochist

Thanks to all who shot in this month’s match. I wish I could have shot in more classes, but time was limited because of Bitter’s moving in this month, and also, once I got to the range, I realized I had left the bolt to my rifle at home! Otherwise I would have shot Rimfire Rifle, Iron Sights with all you guys. Sailorcurt is hosting the next match. Good luck to all!

Today our office is closing at 1:00, so there is little time for blogging.  This Sunday I have an IHMSA match, where I’m hoping to shoot smallbore and field pistol.  Field pistol means reloading some .44 special rounds.  I’m trying a new load, so sometime before dark I want to get out and crony it.  Getting some small bore practice in is also called for, I think.  I’m also compiling the results of the E-Postal match, which will be up later today.

Inquirer reporter Natalie Pompilio has written an article on the book Armed America by Kyle Cassidy.  The reporter interviewed me for the article, but it doesn’t look like I made it into the final cut.  But that’s just as well, since it turned out just fine without me.  I also helped put her in touch with Dan, who I think made much better print than anything I had to say:

Daniel Pehrson, 26, bought his first gun for target shooting but began carrying one for personal protection. Recently, he was glad he did.

The Spring Garden resident was walking near Front Street and Girard Avenue when three teenagers surrounded him. One pulled a stun gun, zapped it a few times, and said, “Hey, check this out.”

“I drew my gun and they ran like hell,” Pehrson said, noting that the small pistol barely left the side of his leg. “It was a difficult and an easy choice. . . . The last thing on earth I want to do is think about hurting someone.”

What if, he wonders, it had been his girlfriend walking alone unarmed when the men circled? What if he’d been listening to his iPod and someone decided the $250 device was worth more than his life?

Pehrson runs a nonprofit organization - the Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association - that aims to provide information about the state’s nearly 500 pages of gun laws. In Cassidy’s book, Pehrson looks barely out of his teens, a pile of pizza boxes in a corner.

My congratulations to Ms. Pompilio on a very good article.

I’m guessing we won’t be seeing Clayton at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous any time soon.  Say what you will about Reno, but Washoe County has a hell of a shooting range.  I’m not much of a gambler either, so that aspect of the city is no attraction to me.  I did find the automobile museum to be worthwhile, as I’m assuming Clayton did as well.

I’m hoping this means we can finally start having a serious discussion about violence in Philadelphia.  It’s long overdue.

Hat Tip to Dave Hardy

Dale Carpenter takes on a rather odd notion that technology will make Heller obsolete. I think it is correct to note that the second amendment isn’t limited merely to firearms technology, but to many things as well.  In fact, I think the door is open for a Second Amendment challenge to many state and local laws that regulate or prohibit the carrying or possession of less-than-lethal weapons.

I am also doubtful that less-than-lethal weapons will supplant firearms, rather than merely supplementing them, which is how they are used in modern police work.  Anything that’s effective at disrupting a person’s physiology or central nervous system enough to stop them in their tracks is probably going to be very likely to kill that person.  Most critters, including humans, are tough to stop quickly without bringing them very close to death.

Apparently DeCosta and Franklin were both served papers, during a press conference, for the federal lawsuit surrounding the Atlanta Airport showdown.  Excellent!

VPCBlog is demanding a retraction of some inaccuracies by the New York Times.

Anti-gun folks continue to pronounce that the sky is falling because of Heller.  I have to admit, it’s fun to watch.

Richard Fernandez links to an interesting article in The New York Post, describing Al-Qaeda’s Plan C:

In a notable departure from past al Qaeda strategy, Naji recommends “countless small operations” that render daily life unbearable, rather than a few spectacular attacks such as 9/11: The “infidel,” leaving his home every morning, should be unsure whether he’ll return in the evening. Naji recommends kidnappings, the holding of hostages, the use of women and children as human shields, exhibition killings to terrorize the enemy, suicide bombings and countless gestures that make normal life impossible for the “infidel” and Muslim collaborators.

Try this crap here, and we’ll get the 72 Virgins Dating Service doing a brisk business faster than you can say Allah Akbar.

I have to agree with Countertop about the episode of 30 days that Bitter and I watched last night, where they sent a Brady Campaign member to live with a gun nut for a month.  I thought it was presented very fairly, and factually, without a whole lot of distortion.  The pro-gun guy was normal and reasonable, had a teenage son, and was generally presented as a fine upstanding citizen.  I give the Brady chick a lot of credit for having an open mind, and I agree with Bitter that the members of CeaseFire from Toledo were the only real bitter ones in the whole episode.  While I don’t think the Brady chick will be joining the NRA any time soon, I have little doubt she’ll never be able to look at the gun issue quite the same way again.

Reporter Fran Wood manages to write a good article about Heller that is not full of hysterics and inaccuracies.  That’s more than I can say for The Chicago Tribune, the ACLU, and the Associated Press.

The ACLU says they disagree with the Supreme Court and continue to hold the Second Amendment is a collective right.  I have to admit, I have at one time been a member of the ACLU, because I have often respected some of the work they have done.  I will never give another dime to them because of this.  Not another dime!

This country desperately needs a real civil liberties advocacy group.

Daley seems to be suggesting Chicago will rework its laws, no doubt to make an incorporation case harder.

Looks like it’s being filed as a Title 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 lawsuit, which is a federal civil rights statute that allows officials to be sued for deprivation of civil rights under the color of law.  The case is Guy Montag Doe vs. San Francisco Housing Authority (CV-08-3112).  You can see a copy of the complaint here.  One of the attorneys in this case is Don Kates, who is a pioneer of Second Amendment rights.  It names several defendants, including Mayor Gavin Newsom, as defendants.  They are being sued in their official capacity.

This case would seem to be a test as to whether the Second Amendment is actionable under Section 1983.  I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be.  No doubt the officials being sued are going to claim qualified immunity, using the theory that Heller is not clearly established law as applied to state and local government and officials.  My understanding is that qualified immunity is often difficult to overcome in these kinds of suits, especially where there’s not well established case law.  But I imagine the hope might be that The Courts might use existing case law and take notice that the second amendment is incorporated.

In the case of Duncan v. Louisiana, which incorporated the right to trial by jury, The Court laid out a guideline for whether a right would be considered applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.  They stated:

The question has been asked whether a right is among those “‘fundamental principles of liberty and justice which lie at the base of all our civil and political institutions,’”  whether it is “basic in our system of jurisprudence,” and whether it is “a fundamental right, essential to a fair trial.”

Given the broad ruling in Heller, it would be hard to see how the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms doesn’t pass the conditions spelled out in Duncan.  Nontheless, there is no clear ruling that says the second amendment is incorporated.  It will be interesting to see if the courts here simply take notice of its incorporation based on existing case law, or whether this will go to the Supreme Court.  Considering Justice Scalia’s disdain for selective incorporation, this might be just the kind of case The Court is looking for.  It’s very good that we’ll have a wide variety of cases proceeding upwards on this important question.

UPDATE: I asked Dave Hardy about qualified immunity claims in suits like this, and he indicated that when the 1983 suits merely asks for an injunction, qualified immunity isn’t at issue.  That only comes into play when the plaintiff is seeking damages.  In this case, they seem to only be asking for an injunction.

Via Bitter, who links to this fine bit of hysterics on the part of Dennis Herrera, the San Francisco City Attorney:

“In their apparent effort to maximize publicity for their pending challenges, the NRA lawyers’ hastily drafted complaint made glaring legal errors, and asserted facts that are not simply unsupported — but actually contradicted by evidence contained in their own exhibits,” Herrera said. “Their factually slipshod complaint makes plain that this case is a publicity stunt and a frivolous waste of judicial time and resources, which rules of court specifically prohibit. It is clear to me, and I believe it will be clear to the Court, that the NRA has improperly named the City in this action, and that this case is simply an effort to publicly harass their ideological foes.”

One of the great pleasures of the Heller decision is watching all these people who have thumbed their noses at us for the past two decades become absolutely unhinged over the ruling.  It’s better than any freak show.

Gun control advocates are going to be studying the effects of the Heller decision on suicide rates in the District of Columbia.  Fortunately, I think most people are capable of coming to the quite rational conclusion that guns do not cause people to decide to commit suicide.

Public-health researchers have concluded that in homes where guns are present, the likelihood that someone in the home will die from suicide or homicide is much greater.

Studies have also shown that homes in which a suicide occurred were three to five times more likely to have a gun present than households that did not experience a suicide, even after accounting for other risk factors.

But apparently journalists are not capable of this level of deductive reasoning.  But here’s how they conclude it’s the guns:

More than 90 percent of suicide attempts using guns are successful, while the success rate for jumping from high places was 34 percent. The success rate for drug overdose was 2 percent, the brief said, citing studies.

“Other methods are not as lethal,” said Jon Vernick, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research in Baltimore.

My theory on this has long been, people who actually want to kill themselves choose effective tools.  People who are crying out for help and attention choose less effective tools.  There’s no fundamental reason jumping from a high place only has a 34% success rate.  A plunge off the Golden Gate or a tall building or structure, is pretty much guaranteed to be 100% successful if you’re choosing your location based on actually wanting to die.  In Japan, where guns are illegal, and which has a suicide rate much higher than the United States, throwing yourself in front of a high speed train is becoming quite the rage, and I would imagine has an effectiveness rate close to 100%.

Very nice looking 66-1.  Peter asked me for information about finding it’s age.  I think Tam is the resident Smith & Wesson expert, who could maybe point Peter in the right direction.

SayUncle notices that some gun rights groups are going to be stacking up some serious legal bills, and encourages you to donate.  I couldn’t agree more.  Also, I would add to that list, the California Rifile and Pistol Association, who have joined NRA in the suit against San Francisco, which challenges the ban on firearms in Public Housing.

Interesting side note, the Plaintiff in the San Francisco case is a gay man who wants to be able to protect himself.  So much for the notion of us being a bunch of cousin humping, gay hating rednecks eh?

So pony up and donate some bucks, or join these fine organizations.  The outcome of all this will depend on hiring the very best attorneys, and that’s often not a cheap proposition.

UPDATE: See this bit linked by Random Nuclear Strikes as well.

It’s good to see President Bush committed to nominating bureaucrats who are committed to preserving and sustaining individual liberty:

By a 5-4 vote last week, the nation’s highest court struck down the District of Columbia’s 32-year-old ban on handguns, the first major pronouncement on gun rights in history. It upheld the right for communities to license guns.

Mueller said communities will have to determine their own license programs. As a former Marine who served in Vietnam, he said “I tend to believe weapons harm people and more often than not they harm the people carrying them.”

With his grandchildren going to college, Mueller said he hopes “those campuses will be weapons free.”

Except they didn’t say communities could license guns.  In fact, The Court speicifcally said they do not address that.  Since Mr. Heller did not ask the court the overturn the licensing requirement, The Court did not do so.  I guess it’s too much to ask of CBS News to do a little research, rather than just repeating nonsense.

Hat tip to NRA-ILA

UPDATE: “I tend to believe weapons harm people and more often than not they harm the people carrying them.”  I anxiously await Mr. Muller’s memo that informs all FBI agents that they should cease and desist from carrying firearms.  Since it only endangers them, you know.

Apparently the Atlanta Airport has decided it’s above the new law passed by the Georgia Legislature, and signed into law by Governor Perdue.  One of the reps who was behind the whole effort was Tim Bearden:

“I have a permit, and I have family I have to pick up at the airport tomorrow [Tuesday],” Bearden told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. “I’ll have one [a concealed weapon] with me at all times.”

Airport General Manager Ben DeCosta said if Bearden shows up at the world’s busiest airport with a gun, he’ll be busted.

“I can identify him, and I’ll have him arrested,” DeCosta said Monday. “We’re not fooling around. This is a post-terrorism environment.”

Mr. DeCosta is setting himself up for a Section 1983 suit in federal court.  If I were Representative Bearden, I wouldn’t hesitate to sue this arrogant power hungry SOB into next week.  It seems to me that tyranny doesn’t have that much sense these days, which is good for us.

Scott Bach, who is President of the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, and an NRA Board member, has this to say about the Heller ruling:

That such a question was even the subject of controversy, or that there were dissenting Justices, is a sad testimony to the state of our nation. It is also a testimony to one of the worst hoaxes and frauds ever perpetrated by gun ban extremists: the phony claim that the phrase “right of the people” really means “right of only those people in state militia service” when firearms are involved.

There is no basis for such an assertion. Yet for years, those unable to legislate the Second Amendment away have shamelessly pursued a scheme to interpret it out of existence by convoluting its words and rewriting its history. They have actually argued, with a straight face, that one provision of the Bill of Rights doesn’t really apply to all Americans - just to some Americans.

Read the whole thing.  It’s sure to displease this particular hoaxster, since the The Court has no doubt put the brakes on his attempt to ban muskets.

Every year, the Independence Institute, which Dave Kopel is Research Director of, throws an Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Party (not in that order).  Here are the pictures from 2008, held this past Saturday, June 28th.  I will say, I am impressed by a second amendment scholar with such a wide collection of marksmanship badges.

Here’s what 20mm rounds fired from the M61A1 Vulcan Gun on an F16 can do to a Chevy Suburban.  They say only 70 rounds were fired, which is basically a tap on the 6,000 rounds-per-minute Vulcan.