Snowflakes in Hell

Bitter has revised the home page for 2009.  We hope to see you there.

Bitter decided to do a car interview on the way back from Kentucky, to get my thoughts on how our first Second Amendment Blog Bash went.  I talk about the genisis of the idea at least year’s Annual Meeting in St. Louis.  The idea that NRA should do something with blogs actually originated with Dave Kopel, and before we could reach out to NRA, they reached out to us.

By the way, Eyeblast.tv has an entire channel dedicated to the Second Amendment Blog Bash, so be sure to stop by an peruse the videos.

This truther would later be tackled by police and dragged away in handcuffs for getting a bit to aggressive with Oliver North, and getting all “the man is keeping me down” when asked to leave.

I should note, that despite the fact that the guy has a media pass, he was not registered with the Second Amendment Blog Bash. We don’t know who he was or how he got a media pass. That was one of the reason we asked people to pre-register, so that random cranks couldn’t just show up claiming to be bloggers and get passes.

I gave a talk at the NRA Annual Meeting.  It’s been posted on Eyeblast.tv here.  I gave the talk under my real name, so now you know.  Not that I’ve made great efforts to keep it a secret.  I mostly just don’t want the Google gods scaring HR people at potential employers because I do this.

By the way, you can see several piece of Second Amendment Blogger Bash Video on our channel on Eyeblast.tv

I see SayUncle has the big announcement from the Blogger Bash.

Bloggers who registered for & attended the Second Amendment Blog Bash are eligible to win a weekend in August training at the Blackwater USA facility with practical shooting champion Todd Jarrett.

ParaUSA deserves a lot of credit for jumping into blogger outreach with both feet.

First, Jim Shepherd from The Shooting Wire.  And also Michael Bane.  I would like to thank both these gentlemen for taking bloggers seriously, and for spending time with us.  I’d also like to thank Michael for the drinks with Todd Jarrett on Friday.  Bloggers are coming into the big time, and I’m very glad to know each and every one of the Blog Bash attendees.  They are among the finest group of people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.

David pokes some fun at the McCain event held last Friday in Louisville.  Yeah, I disarmed for McCain.  Several people chose to watch from the NRA press office, where they had a feed, and you could be armed.  Before the McCain event, I was open carrying around the press office and the exhibit hall.  No one seemed to be too bothered, including the Louisville Police, the Secret Service, or the authorized journalists.  David opines in the comments:

Blaming it all on the SS rings hollow. I believe NRA had a choice of saying “No thanks–do it all via TV feed if that’s your position,” and McCain also had the option of telling the SS who the boss is–which I cede is extremely unlikely.

If McCain and NRA wanted to turn some of this around, he would show up for an impromptu photo op at their range next to armed members. Does anyone honestly believe randomly present members would pose a danger? Because if so, the gun controllers argument that none of us can be trusted must be true. And quite the opposite statement would be made about the trustworthiness of peaceable gun owners if he did–a real in-your-face to the gungrabbers who portray NRA members as violent lunatics.

McCain was pretty unlikely to call off the secret service, but David is correct that he could have done so if he really wanted to.  Given the speech he gave, it’s not too surprising he didn’t go out of his way to act like a true friend to gun owners.  NRA then had a choice of telling McCain to bugger off, pissing off a lot of ticket holders, or just dealing with the Secret Service security.  It’s one of those cases you’re not going to make everyone happy.

I also don’t think the security reflects too much on NRA members, because anyone could have gotten into that forum if they had a scalped ticket, or just outright forged credentials, which wouldn’t have been that hard for someone determined to get close enough to McCain to take a shot.  Secret Service security centers around controlling the forum, rather than being concerned about specific individuals, unless they have a reason to be.

Based on what I was told, Secret Service was worried about the blogger creds, since people were being issued press credentials who weren’t actually press, but that problem was ironed out by NRA before we started arriving.  There was definitely a lot of security theater going on, but in general, I thought the Secret Service was pretty accomodating of the fact that McCain was appearing in a location with thousands of armed people.

Bitter and I stayed around for the Board of Directors meeting on Monday to find out about how NRA did with the annual meeting attendance.  Looks like they made out pretty well.

Bitter and I just arrived back from Louisville.  Normal blogging will resume shortly.  Lots to talk about, including developments in the Philadelphia lawsuit, and lots of content from annual meeting.  Going to unpack the car tomorrow.  Too tired for now.  Way too tired.

Sorry for the light posting, but the Annual Meeting has been so busy, I haven’t had time.  I wasn’t really all that happy with the McCain speech.  I think he could have, well, really should have, hit this one out of the park.  McCain has a real problem with the base, and coming to speak to the NRA regulars, the die-hards, and saying you want to shut down private sales, is not a great way to endear yourself to them.  That’s not to say I’m not voting for him, because let’s face it, the choice is between getting hit by a bike, or getting hit by a dump truck.  I’ll join Kevin Baker’s McCain ‘08 Campaign.

We heard Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana, speak at the NRA Banquet last night, and let me tell you, that guy is impressive.  Frank talk about what happened in New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina, and the efforts he took in Congress to make sure it never happened again.  Why couldn’t we have him instead of McCain?  Either way, Jindal probably needs to get an already impressive record in Louisiana further cemented, but if your political reputation can be that you cleaned up Louisiana, there’s no limit to what you can accomplish, including, probably, running for President.  If Jindall is what we have to look forward to in the Republican Party, I feel pretty good about the future.  Election ‘08 is going to be rough, but there is hope for the future.

I will be liveblogging the John McCain speech at the Celebration of American Values event at the NRA Annual Meeting.  Keep checking back.  This presumes that wireless holds up, and it’s been flakey.

3:00: Mitt Romney is speaking now.  Still waiting for McCain.

3:15: Now it’s Congressman Dan Boren, D-OK

4:15: Senator Mitch McConnell, R-KY

4:20: McCain comes in and starts his speech.  But we’re lined up for a photo op, up close.

4:30: McCain says he won’t support an assault weapons ban.  Says banning guns based on cosmetic features makes no sense.

4:35: McCain says he supports the banning private sales, and campaign finance reform

4:37: McCain says he doesn’t support regulating sales between people within the same family.

4:40: McCain says his support of regulating private sales doesn’t detract from his support of the second amendment.  Can’t say I agree with that one.

4:42: McCain reminds everyone that Obama wouldn’t sign onto the brief urging the Supreme Court to overturn the DC gun ban in Heller.

4:42: The theme seems to be “I suck a little, but my opponents suck more.”

4:43: McCain says that the framers knew exactly what they were doing when they drafted the constitution.

4:43: McCain stresses the importance of judges.  In my view, this is the main reason for voting for him.  He promises to nominate judges who will uphold the constitution, and not activist judges.

4:45: McCain is talking about differences between himself and Obama.  Interesting that he’s pretty much running against Obama.  At this point I think we just have to admit he’s the nominee.

4:46: McCain takes Obama to task for wanting to talk to our enemies instead of just kicking their asses.

4:48: McCain is going over the consequences of pulling out of Iraq.  Says “It would be a terrible defeat for our security interests and our values.”

4:49: McCain says Petraeus has a plan, and it’s working, and things in Iraq are getting better.

4:51: McCain says he wants to bring our soldiers home too, but that he won’t ruin the sacrifice they have already made for this cause.

4:52: “I will defend her, and all her freedoms, so help me God”

That’s all folks.  I suck at liveblogging.  Off to drink like a fish with Michael Bane.

I’m blogging from the Celebration of American Values at the NRA Annual Meeting.  So far we’ve heard John Sigler, Chris Cox, Lt. Governor Dan Mongiardo, Karl Rove, Ollie North, and currently Governor Mike Huckabee.  Mitt Romney created a bit of excitement among bloggers when he came into the media booth, but I was unable to get a picture because the batteries in my camera are dead.  We kind fo swarmed to get a picture.  I was worried first that the secret service guy hanging about was going to body slam a blogger, and additionally that I wouldn’t get a picture of it.

Tonight’s event is the NRA-ILA Mix and Mingle for the blog bash atendees.  This should be a fun event, and it looks like we have a few NRA board members coming.  I ran into Chris Cox earlier and he said he would try to make it out.  Emphasis on try. When Annual Meeting is on, these guys schedules can get nuttier than rush hour on the Tokyo subway, but I’m happy he’s going to try to make an effort to say hi to us.

Bitter and I have arrived in Louisville.  I can see the Brady Campaign is already making some hay out of McCain’s appearance.  I mean, with both Democratic candidates running away from their issue like roaches from the kitchen light, you’d think they wouldn’t be surprised to find John McCain moving away from it too.

The fact of the matter is, Brady Campaign, McCain needs us to win.  He knows that.  So we’re only happy to let him come here, and try to mend some fences.  Obama and Hillary like to say they are for the second amendment, but at the least McCain is willing to come into the lions den and try to make peace with the gun vote.  Will it work?  We’ll see in November, but looking at either Hillary or Obama’s record on gun rights gives him a pretty hefty head start.

Hope to see many of you there.  Just have to run home real quick to check on some things for my house sitter.  Posting will be nonexistent until we arrive.

I’m hearing from the NRA that the Celebration of American Values event at the Annual Meeting on Friday, featuring John McCain, will not be allowing firearms.  This is a directive from the Secret Service, not from NRA or McCain’s campaign.  There will be a security checkpoint at the entrances to Hall A of the Kentucky Exposition Center, where the event will be held.  If you plan to attend this event, just be advised you will have to clear a security checkpoint.

I’ll be making an appearance on Cam & Company tonight at the 9:20 segment to talk about the Second Amendment Blog Bash, happening as part of the NRA Annual Meeting in Louisville, KY later this week, and through the weekend.  I hope everyone can tune in.  You can catch Cam’s show on Sirius Patriot 144 from 9 to midnight, and on NRANews.com

Sorry for the light posting this weekend.  Bitter and I were busy making preperation for Louisville.  I spent most of the weekend running through and refining my presentation for the “In Their Own Words” special session to be held on Saturday May 17th at 2PM.  My presentation will be an introduction to blogging and gun blogging, and how it applies to second amendment activism.  We leave for Louisville on Wednesday, so things will be busy until then.

Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?  The Outdoor Channel’s Michael Bane will be providing bloggers attending the Second Amendment Blogger Bash with a happy hour.  I have Comcast Cable, so sadly, I don’t get to watch Michael’s show, but for those of you who have cable providers who do not suck, you can catch his show on the Outdoor Channel.

Bloggers attending the Second Amendment Blog Bash in Louisville will be getting media credentials from the National Rifle Association, and access to the media room.   SayUncle notes we’ll get a peek into the secret lives of reporters, some of whom may end up wanting to report on you too!   So if you’re a blogger, and can make it, go register.

You can find it here.

On Friday, May 16th NRA will thank not only NRA members, but also the whole Louisville community with a free concert featuring Grammy award-winning artist John Michael Montgomery. This event is sponsored by Gander Mountain and hosted by Louisville’s Fourth Street Live.

With an estimated 60,000 attendees and more than 400 exhibits, this year’s Annual Meetings and Exhibits promises to be among the best in NRA’s 137-year history. Leading firearm manufacturers will display the firearm industry’s latest products. Various hunting and shooting accessories, and an extensive private collection displayed by NRA-affiliated gun collector clubs, will fill acres of convention space.

Aside from having no idea who John Michael Montgomery is, it sounds pretty good to me.  I will be attending as part of the Second Amendment Blog Bash, but everyone should consider coming out.  You can visit nraam.org for more details.

The convention is over, and I’m sitting here back at home now.  It was my first convention, but I have to say, it was pretty neat getting to meet so many interesting people and seeing the industry’s latest offerings.   I’m already looking forward to next year in Louisville!

My impression of St. Louis was overall positive, though I was disappointed that downtown around the convention center is mostly devoid of any evidence that anyone lives there.  Still, the people are remarkably friendly for a large city.

I’d love to see the convention come to Philadelphia someday, but I’m not sure it’s a good strategic location for the NRA, and I’m pretty sure the cities smoking ban would cause problems with some members.  Despite the fact that The City of Brotherly Love is the birthplace of the constitution and the second amendment, it’s surrounded by places that aren’t strong for NRA, like New Jersey, New York, and Maryland.

If you want to see all the NRA convention posts in one place, you can click here.

Bitter and I decided to take one last tour of the floor today before heading back home.  We talked to Tom Knapp on the way to the exhibit floor.   Pretty cool!  It’s the kind of thing that happens at an NRA convention.

I visited the Styer booth, where they had a few AUGs on display.  I asked the Styer guy if they were building those here now, because new AUGs can only be imported for law enforcement or military use.  He said Styer was considering building a plant in the US to make the AUG, but that they have been concerned about the political situation.   They don’t want to invest in building a factory here only to have the AUG banned at some point in the future, and be out their investment in establishing manufacturing here.  He said that if they make the decision to go ahead with a US factory, which is looking more likely since the political situation seems to be favorable, expect to see a domestic built AUG by next May.  Cool.

I also checked out the SIG 556, which I liked a lot.  I’m disappointed that Robinson Arms didn’t get a booth there, as I’d like to handle an XCR before I decide whether I want to get one.  I liked how the 556 operated though.   It has a very crisp trigger pull.

Some pics from around the floor: It was pretty packed on Saturday.  This is a view of the exhibit floor.  The NRA News booth is in the middle, where Cam and his crew reside, and were simulcasting the convention.

Of course Barrett had a very popular booth.   I didn’t see Ronnie himself around, but Lots of folks were taking his literature.  I think most of us will just have to pretend we can afford
his products.

Rock River Arms was showing off a lot of their AR product.

I like the P90.   The PS90, I’m not sure about.   If I were going to go for one, I think I’d rather just get the SBR version and go through all the NFA stuff.   To me the beauty of this personal defense weapon is putting a lot of firepower in a very compact package.   Once you get rid of the compact, it’s just a rifle with a small caliber underpowered cartridge that takes forever to locate where the chamber is, and is still hard to check even when you find it.

Some of you might remember the YouTube videos featuring miniature machine guns that actually fire.  At first I thought it was a fake, but then I found out that there was actually a Class II manufacturer that was making these.    That would be Lakeside Machine, who had a booth at the convention.

The rotating table of mini machine gun goodness.  The cool thing is, these are all semi-auto, so are for sale on the civilian market.  These are very beautifully crafted, and they actually fire!

This picture wasn’t meant for me to be aiming straight at the camera, but it ended up that way, because by the time Bitter got to snap the pic, the table had rotated.  Like I said, everything on the floor has to be rendered inoperable to be put on display.

30 Caliber Browning machine gun.  My hand is showing for scale.  You’ll notice the belt of fake .22LR along the bottom.

I really like these products.  I’d love to buy one to put on display, but I’d have to figure out a way to secure it nicely.