From a Facebook post:
I like George Takei, but I find it amazing that somebody who has been personally put into an internment camp by his government can hold the position that only the government should have guns.
Tag: gun control
Quote of the Day – Gun Control Edition
The Toomey-Manchin amendment admirably attempted to carve out certain protections for gun owners, but today’s carve-outs are tomorrow’s loopholes. The current ‘gun show loophole’ was itself once considered a legitimate carve-out that protected certain private sales.
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The amendment also took an incremental step toward universal background checks, which, as a Justice Department memo written earlier this year suggested, are effective only when coupled with a national registration system.
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After all, you cannot track all gun sales without tracking all gun owners. But the government has no business monitoring constitutionally protected activity, like gun ownership, any more than it has any business tracking what books Americans read or how often they attend church.
Edited to add: Former Rep. Adam Putnam once said,
Government does only two things well: nothing, and overreact.
Yesterday it did the first, rather than the second. Let’s hope it keeps this up.
Bullet Hose Patrol Carbine
Back in 2003 the Violence Policy Center produced a “study” entitled Bullet Hoses: Semiautomatic Assault Weapons—What Are They? What’s So Bad About Them? in anticipation of the 2004 sunset of the 1994 Assault Weapon Ban (that wasn’t). Here are the “10 Key Points” from that paper:
1. Semiautomatic assault weapons (like AK and AR-15 assault rifles and UZI and MAC assault pistols) are civilian versions of military assault weapons. There are virtually no significant differences between them.
2. Military assault weapons are “machine guns.” That is, they are capable of fully automatic fire. A machine gun will continue to fire as long as the trigger is held down until the ammunition magazine is empty.
3. Civilian assault weapons are not machine guns. They are semiautomatic weapons. (Since 1986 federal law has banned the sale to civilians of new machine guns.) The trigger of a semiautomatic weapon must be pulled separately for each round fired. It is a mistake to call civilian assault weapons “automatic weapons” or “machine guns.”
4. However, this is a distinction without a difference in terms of killing power. Civilian semiautomatic assault weapons incorporate all of the functional design features that make assault weapons so deadly. They are arguably more deadly than military versions, because most experts agree that semiautomatic fire is more accurate—and thus more lethal—than automatic fire.
5. The distinctive “look” of assault weapons is not cosmetic. It is the visual result of specific functional design decisions. Military assault weapons were designed and developed for a specific military purpose—laying down a high volume of fire over a wide killing zone, also known as “hosing down” an area.
6. Civilian assault weapons keep the specific functional design features that make this deadly spray-firing easy. These functional features also distinguish assault weapons from traditional sporting guns.
7. The most significant assault weapon functional design features are: (1) ability to accept a high-capacity ammunition magazine, (2) a rear pistol or thumb-hole grip, and, (3) a forward grip or barrel shroud. Taken together, these are the design features that make possible the deadly and indiscriminate “spray-firing” for which assault weapons are designed. None of them are features of true hunting or sporting guns.
8. “Spray-firing” from the hip, a widely recognized technique for the use of assault weapons in certain combat situations, has no place in civil society. Although assault weapon advocates claim that “spray-firing” and shooting from the hip with such weapons is never done, numerous sources (including photographs and diagrams) show how the functional design features of assault weapons are used specifically for this purpose.
9. Unfortunately, most of the design features listed in the 1994 federal ban—such as bayonet mounts, grenade launchers, silencers, and flash suppressors—have nothing to do with why assault weapons are so deadly. As a result, the gun industry has easily evaded the ban by simply tinkering with these “bells and whistles” while keeping the functional design features listed above.
10. Although the gun lobby today argues that there is no such thing as civilian assault weapons, the gun industry, the National Rifle Association, gun magazines, and others in the gun lobby enthusiastically described these civilian versions as “assault rifles,” “assault pistols,” “assault-type,” and “military assault” weapons to boost civilian assault-weapon sales throughout the 1980s. The industry and its allies only began to use the semantic argument that a “true” assault weapon is a machine gun after civilian assault weapons turned up in inordinate numbers in the hands of drug traffickers, criminal gangs, mass murderers, and other dangerous criminals.
And the summation:
The plain truth is that semiautomatic assault weapons look bad because they are bad. They were designed and developed to meet a specific military goal, which was killing and wounding as many people as possible at relatively short range as quickly as possible, without the need for carefully aimed fire. In short, they are ideal weapons for war, mass killers, drug gangs, and other violent criminals.
So, to emphasize the VPC’s assertions and conclusions:
1. There is no difference between semi-automatic and fully-automatic versions of the same weapon, except somehow the semi-automatic civilian versions are “are arguably more deadly than military versions”. (Someone should inform the Pentagon. And Congress. We need the 1986 ban on new machine guns lifted, since they’re safer than semi-autos.)
2. The sole purpose of these weapons is “killing and wounding as many people as possible at relatively short range as quickly as possible, without the need for carefully aimed fire”
3. There is “no place in civil society” for these weapons.
So why does pretty much every police officer in the country have one in his vehicle?
I saw that this morning at the Circle K. From the looks of it, not only is it one of those eeeeevil “bullet hoses,” but it’s a short-barreled bullet hose, one that we mere civilians cannot own without jumping through a bunch of legal hoops. I couldn’t tell if it was one of the less-lethal fully-automatic bullet hoses, as the safety was obscured by the locking mechanism that keeps it secured to the motorcycle, but I wouldn’t doubt it.
I don’t get it – if bullet hoses and high-capacity magazines are so damned dangerous, why don’t we restrict our police departments to six-shot revolvers? I mean, if they really need something terrifyingly lethal, why not follow Joe Biden’s advice and get a double-barreled twelve gauge shotgun?
Burying Them Won’t Save Them
Huge arsenal of guns and ammo found – hidden behind false wall day after Dunblane massacre
A builder renovating a house has discovered a huge arsenal of guns and ammunition that were hidden behind a false wall the day after the Dunblane massacre.
More than 30 shotguns and pistols, along with hundreds of rounds of ammunition, were discovered in a semi-detached house in the quiet village of Dinas Powys in south Wales.
The guns were wrapped in newspaper dated March 14 1996, the day after the Dunblane primary school massacre in which sixteen children and a teacher lost their lives.
Simon Berni, the builder who discovered the haul, said: “It was an incredible arsenal – full, absolutely choc-a-bloc with eight shelves of fire arms and ammunition”.
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Mr Berni said: “I was shocked because there weren’t any bricks in the wall but a lot of shotgun barrels and hand guns…They obviously belonged to somebody who knew what they were doing as they were all greased and beautifully wrapped up in newspaper.”
Police are investigating the gun stash, but believe it’s likely the property’s previous owner simply hadn’t registered them and hid the weapons to avoid losing them in a government crackdown on guns in the wake of Dunblane.
So someone hadn’t registered his guns, still managed to acquire a lot of ammo, and could see the writing on the wall after Dunblane – but instead of turning them in during an amnesty he carefully preserved and stored them, never to use them again.
In other words, he lost them, anyway.
Some talk about stashing guns and ammo against a similar eventuality here.
For what? So somebody else can stumble across them a decade or two later?
Quote of the Day – Inside Higher Ed Edition
This is from a piece discussing a new 2010 book by discredited history professor Michael Bellesiles. In particular, it refers to a paragraph in the promotional material for that book.
Seems that Bellesiles rubs off on his publishers, too.
The linked piece, “Amazing Disgrace,” is a pretty comprehensive review of the Arming America scandal, or as he terms it l’affaire Bellesiles, and worth your time.
Especially the last couple of paragraphs.
(h/t to Irons in the Fire for the link.)
Glock Perfection
Say Uncle linked to a Brietbart piece, ABC’s ‘Nightline’ Takes Aim at Glock Handguns in which ‘Nightline’ really hammers on the meme that Glock (the manufacturer) is eeeeeeviiilllll.
Something I noted though – I recently received a complimentary copy of Paul M. Barrett’s Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun from the publisher for review. I’m way overdue on that review (and honestly, others have done that far better than I), but I noted throughout the Brietbart column that it seemed that whoever did the ‘Nightline’ hit piece had read Mr. Barrett’s book, too. Used it as an outline, almost. When Barrett details how Glock would allow police departments to trade in their old service weapons for a discount on new Glocks, and then would sell those weapons to wholesalers, I could read an undercurrent of anger at how Glock was “putting guns on the streets” – especially when they took older Glock models (with pre-ban “high-capacity” magazines) in trade, thus illustrating the absurdity of the 1994 AWB. The ‘Nightline’ piece expands on that anger.
I’ve met Paul Barrett – he attended the Gun Blogger Rendezvous a couple of years ago, trying to gin up enthusiasm for his book. He seems a nice guy and a good investigative reporter, but I thought at the time that his book would be used as ammunition for the anti-gun forces out there, and I believe it has been.
Interesting Data Point
My Arizona CCW expired this month, so last month I filled out the renewal form and mailed them a cashier’s check.
It’s been a few weeks. No permit.
So I called them today. “We’re currently processing only those applications that came in before February 15,” I was told. “At the start of the year, it seems like EVERYBODY wanted to get a permit. We’re buried in applications.”
This is in a state where a permit is not required for carrying concealed. I have one because it gets me out of the instant background check when I purchase a firearm, and it also lets me carry in several other states (but no longer in Nevada).
I was advised to give them “another couple of weeks” before checking back.
“When dealing with guns, the citizen acts at his peril.”
That’s a quote from the 1996 New Jersey Superior Court decision State vs. Pelleteri, which I have discussed previously.
That’s obviously still the law of the land in the People’s Democratic Republic of New Jersey (PDRNJ) as evidenced by this latest story:
Family Says New Jersey Overreacted To Boy’s Gun Photo On Facebook
The ruddy-cheeked, camouflage-clad boy in the photo smiles out from behind a pair of glasses, proudly holding a gun his father gave him as a present for his upcoming 11th birthday.
The weapon in the photo, posted by his dad on Facebook, resembles a military-style assault rifle but, his father says, is actually just a .22-caliber copy. And that, the family believes, is why child welfare case workers and police officers visited the home in Carneys Point last Friday and asked to see his guns.
New Jersey’s Department of Children and Families declined to comment specifically on the case but says it often follows up on tips. The family and an attorney say father Shawn Moore’s Second Amendment rights to bear arms were threatened in a state that already has some of the nation’s strictest gun laws and is considering strengthening them after December’s schoolhouse massacre in Connecticut.
In this case, the family believes someone called New Jersey’s anonymous child abuse hotline.
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Moore said he called his lawyer Evan Nappen, who specializes in Second Amendment cases, and had him on speakerphone as he arrived at his house in Carneys Point, just across the Delaware River from Wilmington, Del.
He’s got a good lawyer, anyway.
Here’s the really interesting part:
“They said they wanted to see into my safe and see if my guns were registered,” Moore said. “I said no; in New Jersey, your guns don’t have to be registered with the state; it’s voluntary. I knew once I opened that safe, there was no going back.”
With the lawyer listening in on the phone, Moore said he asked the investigators and police officers whether they had a warrant to search his home. When they said no, he asked them to leave. One of the child welfare officials would not identify herself when Moore asked for her name, he said.
The agents and the police officers left, and nothing has happened since, he said.
“I don’t like what happened,” he said. “You’re not even safe in your own house. If they can just show up at any time and make you open safes and go through your house, that’s not freedom; it’s like tyranny.”
State child welfare spokeswoman Kristine Brown said that when it receives a report of suspected abuse or neglect, it assigns a caseworker to follow up. She said law enforcement officers are asked to accompany caseworkers only if the caseworkers feel their safety could be compromised.
“No going back,” indeed.
Joseph Pelleteri was convicted of possession of an “assault weapon” when his safe was searched and a Marlin Model 60 that he had won in a target competition – manufacturer’s tags still dangling from the trigger guard – was found. Since that weapon could hold 17 rounds of .22 Long Rifle in its magazine tube, and that “highly dangerous offensive weapon” wasn’t licensed, Mr. Pelleteri was convicted of a felony and stripped of his right to arms. Shawn Moore was exactly right in refusing to allow his safe to be searched without a warrant.
But note also that in the PDRNJ, a picture of a “camoflage-clad boy” smiling while “proudly holding a gun his father gave him as a present” qualifies as potential “abuse or neglect” to “state child welfare” workers.
When dealing with the State, the citizen acts at his peril.
And that’s not the way it’s supposed to be.
So, Magpul has Pulled the Trigger
…and is leaving Colorado in the wake of that state’s new legislation. Good for them. Now if we could get the Northeast firearms manufacturers to do the same thing.
Don’t Pee On My Leg and Tell Me it’s Raining
So Diane Feinstein’s “Assault Weapon Ban” bill is out of committee. We’re told endlessly by the media that our betters in Washington want to pass new gun control legislation to make America safer. But if you’ve been paying attention, you know for a fact that this is complete bullshit.
Daniel Greenfield at Sultan Knish explains it so that I don’t have to. Pertinent excerpt:
67% of firearm murders took place in the country’s 50 largest metro areas. The 62 cities in those metro areas have a firearm murder rate of 9.7, more than twice the national average. Among teenagers the firearm murder rate is 14.6 or almost three times the national average. Those numbers are from six years ago. They have grown worse since.
Those are the crowded cities of Obamerica. The places with the most restrictive gun control laws and the highest crime rates. These are the places where the family is broken, money comes from the government and immigrants crowd in from some of the most violent parts of the world bringing with them their own organized crime. These are also the places that have run by Democrats and their political machines for almost as long as they have been broken.
Obama won every major city in the election, except for Jacksonville and Salt Lake City. And the higher the death rate, the bigger his victory. He won New Orleans by 80 to 17 where the murder rate is ten times higher than the national average. He won Detroit, where the murder rate of 53 per 100,000 people is the second highest in the country and twice as high as any country in the world, including the Congo and South Africa. He won it 73 to 26. And then he celebrated his victory in Chicago where the murder rate is three times the statewide average.
These places aren’t America. They’re Obamerica.
Obama isn’t the cause, he’s merely the latest symptom. But here’s the point:
America does not have a gun violence problem. Obamerica does. And Obamerica has a gun violence problem for the same reason that it has a drug problem and a broken family problem. These social ills cannot be solved by banning something. The War on Guns is not going to fix the inner city just as the War on Drugs didn’t. Rigid law enforcement can keep the numbers down, but does not deal with the causes of the violence.
As Say Uncle puts it, “Gun Control – what you do instead of something.”
They’re not interested in making us safer, they’re intent on disarming us. Newtown just presented another opportunity to try.