… if the other side really is on the side of the criminal. I think it’s at least true that they have a deep and abiding hatred of gun owners who stand up for their rights, and refuse to be complicit in the disarmament of others.
Month: November 2011
Natural Selection
SayUncle notes that The City (his The City) has been having Coyote problems, and that shooting them should be an acceptable solution. I’ve never understood why this is considered unacceptable by the modern PC establishment, but then again, I’ve never really viewed humans to be apart from nature. We are the apex predator on this planet, and I don’t think that ought to be denied.
In nature, predators don’t usually tolerate the presence of other predators, so they all learn to stay out of each others way. This is a basic survival mechanism, since animals that learn to tolerate the presence of things that would like to eat it, or their young, typically aren’t going to last long. Nature just won’t select for those traits.
It’s not surprising then, that when humans start tolerating the presence of other predators, or even encouraging it, those predators will tend to lose their natural fear over time, and spread those fearless genes onto their offspring. Pretty soon you can’t leave rover out, or leave the kids out to play, without having to worry. When predators who tolerate the presence of humans are shot, they are removed from the gene pool. Nature selects only for predators that fear humans as a fellow predator, and steer clear. When you’re dealing with an animal like a Coyote, which is not endangered and adapts very well to new environments, it’s difficult for me to see why this is an issue for anyone. The Coyote is very fit for survival. Sometimes I wonder whether we are.
Not Going to Join the Condemnation of UC Police
Lots of controversy over the use of pepper spray on protesters, including controversy that led to the UC Davis Police Officers, seen in this incident here, being suspended for what looks to be fairly standard police use of spray:
I’m not going to jump on this particular condemnation bandwagon. If you have a bunch of people blocking access to a public resource, or occupying private property, who refuse to move, the use of force by the police to get them to move is both legally and morally justified. In that situation you have two choices, you can either remove them by forcibly removing them through physical force, which is statistically much more likely to cause lasting injuries, or to use pain compliance.
Pepper spray is highly irritating, but once decontaminated, there are not really lasting effects. It is a compliance tool. If you had a bunch of people blocking access to your house, would you not use force to remove them? In this case the protesters knew what was going to happen if they didn’t move, and volunteered to pay the price.
Better Than Nothing
Joe Huffman notes a case of a kid who fended up an attacker with a BB gun. Hey, if it works for Clark W. Griswold and little Ralphie, why not?
SAF/Calguns Suit Against California Assault Weapons Ban
It’s interesting to see SAF and CalGuns Foundation announcing they are going after the Assault Weapons Ban in California. While I’m wary of AWB suits in general, they have a unique angle. I’ve had this case in my tabs for a few weeks now, meaning to write something on it, but hadn’t taken the time to do the research. The case has an Iraq war veteran at the center of it, an individual who has repeatedly been unjustly arrested several times because California cops don’t know what an assault weapon is (which is understandable, considering no one else really does either). The case is also narrow, rather than being a kitchen sink of issues.
The argument, as best I can tell, is that the California AWB can’t survive constitutional scrutiny due to vagueness, and due to the fact that it’s interfering with the exercise of a fundamental constitutional right. The interesting thing about the vagueness angle, is that it’s already been tried before, and prevailed in a case in Ohio in the Sixth Circuit, and as best as I’ve found, none have outright failed either. These cases were pre-Heller, and I would think Heller should change the dynamic a good deal.
Given the Heller II case has upheld an Assault Weapons Ban as constitutional, at this point a circuit split is likely on the matter, which makes it likely the Supreme Court will take a case to resolve the split. This lawsuit looks interesting enough, and the plaintiffs well selected, that this would be something we’d want before the Court if they choose to resolve the conflict. They might be more open to a constitutional argument that includes a strong element of vagueness.
That said vagueness challenges are tough to win, though this area of gun control seems particularly ripe for it. When you regulate by cosmetics rather than function, it necessarily is going to include a large degree of vagueness. This centers around things like prohibiting barrel shrouds, which even Carolyn McCarthy will tell you is a “shoulder thing that goes up,” or prohibiting flash suppressors, but not muzzle brakes, and how is law enforcement to know the difference? There’s also, in California, the issue of the bullet button, which has effectively neutered their assault weapons ban for all practical purposes. Essentially as long as it takes a tool (and a bullet has been determined to be a tool) to drop the magazine, it’s not considered “detachable,” and therefore none of the assault weapon characteristics apply. The problem is that police in California haven’t been well trained to know the difference.
What Drugs Are They Taking at the Brady Campaign?
I’m not even really sure what to make of this, but the outright bizarreness emanating from the Brady Center these days continues:
Umm, in 1963, Jack Kennedy was President, and given the choice, I’m pretty sure he’d rather have had the White House randomly sprayed by gunfire from a whack job with an SKS while he wasn’t home, than having his brains blown out in Dallas by a Castro-sympathizing sniper from a sixth floor window using a scoped Italian bolt action rifle.
And you have even more ridiculous nonsense from our opponents about the gun shooting two footballs fields! You’d think no one ever killed anyone before Simonov and Kalashnikov came along. Just be happy Hollywood movies have taught most random nuts to spray and pray. There was a time when they aimed. I worry more about the nut that aims, regardless of what type of firearm he has.
Congresswoman Maloney: F&F GOP Manufactured Scandal
Yes, this operation was ill-conceived. Americans who are outraged at Terry’s death rightly want to know whether it has been scrapped and whether Attorney General Eric Holder, who oversees ATF, is aggressively investigating Fast and Furious. I can report that the answer to both of those questions is a resounding yes.
But for Republican congressional leaders, one botched operation is not enough to serve their political goals. They need a scandal — and are desperate to create one.
When you have a dead Border Agent, killed with a gun that was deliberately allowed into criminals hands by the DOJ/ATF, I don’t think there’s anything manufactured about that controversy. I can’t tell you how much I find the “Bush did it too” excuse to be pathetic. It’s pretty clear at this point high level DOJ and Administration officials knew about the plan, knew what it was doing, and did nothing to stop it. This has done quite a lot to convince me that for people like Maloney the concern about gun violence is really baloney. All they really give a crap about is restricting guns as much as they can.
Late Start Today Thanks to the Flesh Eating Bacteria
Sorry for the late start to posting today. I had to go to the doctor to take care of the flesh eating bacteria. Well, OK, that’s a bit exaggerated, but I’m prone to sebaceous cysts, and every once in a while one gets infected. When that happens, it’s painful and nasty. But it’s provided a bit of a lesson on health care costs. See, like most people, I had no idea what it costs to see my doctor, because insurance has always paid for it.
Cost 45 bucks to see the doctor, and 4 dollars for the sulfa antibiotic he prescribed. It cost more to get my car inspected last month. Now granted, as some point that cyst is going to need to be removed, and that’s sure to cost more like 10x this amount. But the cost of kicking the can down the road a bit, until I get established with the next job and get on their health plan was a lot less than I expected it to be. Granted, because I was paying cash, the doctor gave me a break on his usual rate, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up making more doing a cash transaction than the office usually makes dealing with insurance companies.
Either way, hopefully the sulfa drug will take care of it. I was surprised to get prescribed that, given that this class of antibiotics has been around since World War II. But it turns out sulfa drugs are actually effective against most strains of resistant staph, which is apparently becoming uncomfortably common in community acquired infections. You want to really be frightened, the pharma industry isn’t really doing much in the way of looking for new antimicrobials. Because of the dangers of overuse, doctors are prescribing them less often, and the market has been getting smaller. In addition, if you do put a new class of antimicrobial on the market, you’re probably guaranteed to be a last line of defense, when all other antibiotics fail. This limits the market size and destroys the incentive to invest in the R&D, and antimicrobials are a tougher class of drugs than most. That’s a shame, because sulfa drugs have a high incidence of allergic reaction. While I’m pretty sure I had this class of sulfa drugs as a kid, I’m not 100% sure, so I’m hoping I tolerate it well. As much as medical science has advanced, it’s a real shame to have to rely on class of antimicrobials dating from World War II to deal with the modern drug-resistant bugs floating around out there.
Mexican Carrying a Glock
Bad idea.You’d think Plaxico Burris would have taught people it was a bad idea, but fools keep doing it. Fortunately for us, this guy has removed himself from the gene pool. Guns need to be carried in holsters. This goes to show that mandatory training requirements can’t cure stupid.
Anyone Had an Issue with Dick’s Sporting Goods?
From PAFOA, it would seem that they are enforcing New Jersey law over here in Pennsylvania. Some of our club members had an issue with Dicks in the same vein a while back, and they clarified this was not their policy. But it seems they are doing it again. Dicks is under no obligation to enforce New Jersey law outside of New Jersey. They are under obligation to obey federal law, but federal law only demands the person be 18 for “rifle or shotgun ammunition” and 21 for “handgun ammunition.” That might justify a license check, at most.
So the question them becomes why Dick’s is enforcing New Jersey law in Pennsylvania? The only thing I can figure is their corporate General Counsel is paranoid. But is his paranoia justified? This is New Jersey we’re talking about. Since Dick’s holds a license from the State of New Jersey for dealing in firearms and ammunition, I suspect the concern is that New Jersey authorities could dick with their license (no pun intended) if the powers that be become upset with their policies. It’s worth noting that dealer licenses in New Jersey are comparatively may-issue compared to other jurisdictions. A license can be revoked or denied if the State Police feel the dealer would “pose a danger to the public health, safety or welfare.”
But I’m not aware of any other big box retailers, like Wal-Mart being concerned enough to card New Jersey residents. But Wal-Mart wields a bigger stick than a smaller retailer like Dick’s. Has anyone else noticed this problem with retailers? I make a policy to buy ammo from sources that are known to support gun rights. Dick’s is not among them.