Winter has struck hard in Pennsylvania, with temperatures in the low 20s plus wind chills, which means it’s time to whip out my Russian Army Ushanka. I generally remove the stars from them because I have issues promoting a regime that murdered millions of people, but I will admit they are warm. I often get questioned about where I got the hat from, and I’m always tempted to say “I got this hat off a dead Russian major”, but I think only gun nuts raised in the 80s would get the reference.
Month: January 2007
David Makes Some Good Points
Over at WarOnGuns, David Codrea posts in response to my post few a few days ago. I agree with several of David’s points. Namely:
As for Mr. Sawders’ letter, again, I agree it would not be advisable to send such a missive if the goal was to persuade Judge Hendren to “do the right thing.” What I reject is that anyone is capable of writing such a letter.
The judge has proven he is a creature who considers stare decisis the supreme law of the land. He will be guided on the sentencing by what the prosecution wants and what the guidelines and precedent say.
I essentially agree here. I do think there are a lot of folks out there who feel, rightly, like they are backed against the wall on the gun issue. I also agree that there is often no right case, and sometimes you have to go to court with a less than ideal case because it’s the right thing to do. What I do want to discourage is people getting themselves arrested with the intent of pushing a case through the courts. There might come a place and time for that, and when it comes, we’ll need folks like Mr. Fincher. I will post later on what the ideal first case might look like as a theoretical exercise, but David is right to point out you don’t always get to do things ideally. He’s also correct to point out:
is the court will rule it an individual right, but so narrowly, and with such deference to “compelling state interest” and “reasonable restrictions” as to make very little difference in terms of hampering new legislation to outlaw “assault weapons” again, “close the gun show loophole,” retain and share NICS data, etc., and of course, in terms of enforcing “existing gun laws.”
This is definitely something to be afraid of, and a big fear of mine as well. I’m not going to say much else about the topic of Mr. Sawders’ letter, because I don’t really want to stir up trouble within the community, and I am sympathetic to many of his arguments. We’re all on the same side, and while I think it’s good to air out differences in strategy and tactics for time to time, we need to keep our energy focused on the real opposition. Especially with the media seemingly bring gun control back to the surface in a big way.
Can’t Get Excited
I’ve noticed a few hits from Google and a few other sites for the Kriss Super V, along with some speculation about whether there’d be a civilian version. I’ve always been one that, if you take the machine gun out of submachine gun, it just doesn’t really interest me.
I can accept semi-auto versions of assault rifles, because assault rifles are generally most useful with the selector on semi-auto, with burst and full auto mode being only for those oh so special occasions. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have M16s and M4s in my safe, than AR-15s, but I still think semi-auto ARs are great weapons in their own right, and worth owning and shooting.
But give me a semi-auto version of a submachine gun, and I just want to cry. Same with belt fed, semi-auto versions of classic machine guns. It’s just sacrilege. These weapons are meaningless as semi-automatic arms, and that’s why I don’t plan on making anything belt fed acquisitions until I can collect proper examples, that function the way God, and John Moses Browning, intended them to function.
A Blog Promotion
One thing that’s bothering me about gun blogging, is that I spend more time reading gun blogs to find things to post bout than I spend reading some of my other favorite blogs. So I will highlight them from time to time.
If I had to pick a favorite non-gun blog, I would pick The Belmont Club. It’s run by Richard Fernandez, a Filipino-Australian blogger, who is known on his blog as Wretchard the Cat. In my opinion, he’s one of the clearest thinking and well written invididuals when it comes to the current strugle we find outselves engaged in with radical Islam. Let me find a recent gem to share with you:
Yet the fault does not lie — at least fundamentally — with individual politicians. The world is in the middle of an epochal transition, a transition with various names. It has been known as a Clash of Civilizations; a shift from the Nation State to the Market State; the showdown between McWorld and the New Caliphate or the end times in advance of the Hidden Imam. But whatever the nomenclature, this epoch constitutes a challenge for which no Western leader as yet has clear answers. Not to the question of what to do with Europe’s burgeoning Muslim communities; nor to the deadly rivalry between Sunni and Shi’a across the Middle East; nor to the challenge of radical Islam the world over. Webb is right to expect “sound judgment, clear thinking, concern for our welfare” and guarantees of safety from President Bush. But what better satisfaction can he obtain from Pelosi, Obama, Murtha or Hillary Clinton, who may not only not know the answer, they may not even understand the question. Is there no balm in Gilead? None. But that doesn’t mean we can’t start to invent some. Both Iraq and 9/11 are examples of challenges posed by the new epoch that won’t go away. And they will not go away until freedom, at least as expressed as the absence the mental tyranny embodied by the toxic ideology embodied by radical theocracies, is widespread over the earth. Robert Mayer is right. And so is James Webb. Strategy and operational competence are meaningless without each other. A thumbs up for freedom. And two thumbs up for attaining freedom through learned competence.
That is from The lock and key. Also check out, The politics of “Surge”, The Shores of Tripoli, Enough Gas to Get Where?, and Using the Enemy’s Strength Against Them:
Although Muckian’s examples are drawn from Iraq, they might as well have been drawn from the Islamic insurgency in the Philippines. Here if anywhere, the assumption that terrorists are operating according to some strict Bolshevik discipline is wildly misplaced. An individual Muslim terrorist might have multiple associations with one or all of several organizations — the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Abu Sayyaf Group or the Jemaah Islamiyah. And be able to run from one to the other. Counterterrorism tactics which assume the enemy is pursuing the organizationally disciplined “People’s War” model may result in irrelevant “divide and rule” counterinsurgency schemes. For example, the Philippine government is attempting to negotiate a political settlement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, designating them a “peace partner”, providing their personnel with certain immunities and promoted “confidence building” measures among them. It’s a classic attempt to win over the “moderate” rebels and isolate the “radicals”. But the weakness of that approach was illustrated when it became known that the Jemaah Islamiyah had been training its cadres inside Moro Islamic Liberation Front areas. Because the insurgency was based on “narrative” rather than Bolshevik discipline the terrorists could move between organizational boundaries which were really only meaningful to the counter-insurgent. The Western policeman may stop pursuit at an organizational or international border, but a terrorist driven by narrative will walk right through it.
Great stuff. But Great stuff is the standard on this blog rather than the exception. I highly encourage everyone to make The Belmont Club a regular stop, because this stuff is 100x better thought out and more informative than any policy wonk you’ll read in the paper or any dullard talking head you’ll see on CNN or Fox.
Maybe It’s the Voices in His Head
Maybe It’s the voices in our favorite Senator from New York’s head that tell him he needs ot take our guns:
Searching for the magic eight words, he turned for consolation and advice to his imaginary friends, Joe and Eileen Bailey. No, I’m not making this up. Sen. Schumer actually says this: “Though they are imaginary, I frequently talk to them. To me, they represent the hard-working and often-ignored families who are not tuned in to special-interest newsletters or editorial pages, but want a little something more from their government and their leaders.”
I can sympathize with Joe and Eileen here, because I want more from our leaders too, like, not being friggin nutcases who talk to voices in their heads. Maybe when Chuck Schumer votes to improve the mental health records in the NICS system, he should make sure he gets himself added too. You never know when Joe and Eileen will start telling him “the blood of the unbelievers cleanses the earth”.
It Makes a Guy Want to Cry
Take a hard look at this picture, and check out the caption, because it’s important:
A police officer lights a bonfire of confiscated rifles at the Lake Tanganyika stadium in Kigoma, Tanzania. Some 2,000 guns were surrendered last year under a program to rid the country of illegal weapons.
So next time you hear pricks like Bloomberg yammering about illegal guns, remember this picture. “Illegal guns” is just their latest slogan. “Gun control” didn’t work. “Gun safety” fizzled. Now they think they found a meme that will actually spread, and will cause the public to associate “guns” with “illegal”, which is what they want them all to be. Bloomberg and his ilk would like nothing better than to bring this image to America.
Hat tip to Hit and Run
Can You Feel the Love John?
NRA News is calling out Mayor Street over this interesting assertion:
Why so much violence? According to Mayor Street, it’s Iraq’s fault. Street told the Philadelphia Daily News, “I believe the fact that we are a country at war has something to do with the attitude of people in the streets.” He went on to explain that the Iraq war is a “contributing factor” in the increase in gun violence and homicides.
The original article can be found here.  Now this is just getting ridiculous. How far is John Street willing to go to deflect blame from his poor management of the city to other people? It’s bad enough when he blames lawful gun owners for the violence in Philadelphia, but blaming the war in Iraq is a new, laughable low.
Get real John. Thank God for term limits. That’s all I have to say.
A Rousing Endorsement
My friend Jym, who is married to a stripper known on here as Christina, and who has been the subject of previous random conversations, has this to say about Mitt Romney’s candiciacy for President:
(10:28:29 PM) Sebastian: Should I vote for Ted Nugent for the NRA board?
(10:34:35 PM) Jym: definitely, he’s awesome
(10:34:56 PM) Jym: Btw, is mitt romney actually gaining support in the conservative blogosphere?
(10:35:35 PM) Sebastian: I doubt it. The blogophere I think is pretty down on him
(10:35:40 PM) Jym: ah good
(10:35:43 PM) Jym: he’s a douchebucket
(10:37:10 PM) Jym: as a former Massachusetts person, i have to say i think he’s totally douchetastic
There you have it folks. “Mitt Romney: Totally Douchtastic”. Someone quick suggest that slogan to his campaign manager.
Accusing Federal Judges of Treason is Definitely “How Not to Win”
I don’t enjoy criticizing members of our own community, especially when I think their hearts are in the right place. But I have to make exceptions when I think they are doing something that’s really damaging to the community as a whole. I’ve stated my opinions on the Wayne Fincher case before, but I noticed this appear WarOnGuns earlier that makes me want to bring it up again:
What was your price? What was offered you in that meeting with representatives of the prosecution that seems to have caused a complete reversal of what you had stated only the day before? Was it reward? Was it threat if you did not cooperate?
To sum it up in one question, “What price treason?”
Folks,we’re really not going to accomplish anything by antagonizing the federal judiciary. In fact, it’s going to seriously hurt us. These are the same federal judges we’ll be relying on to, someday, rule in our favor and throw out a gun law because of the second amendment.
The judge in the Fincher case was bound by the precedent of 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, which holds that the Second Amendment is a collective right. I don’t think he was bribed or coerced into treason. I think he was made aware of controlling precedent in his circuit, which he was perhaps not initially, and also made aware that as a district judge in that circuit, he was bound by that precedent.
I may not agree with our court system’s near worship of stare decisis, especially in a case, such at this, where the precedent is clearly wrong, but it’s how the system works. If you want to work within the system, you have to deal with and understand these issues. We must be exceedingly careful when dealing with the courts, and judges.
We’re getting into territory where if we play our cards wrong, the judiciary will read the right to bear arms right out of the constitution. Maybe some of the anti-government types out there would love to have something like that to prove that our government is hopelessly corrupt, and beyond hope, but I think most of us would really like to fix this issue the proper way.
In order to fix it, you have to have the right case, the right defendant, and the right council. I’m sorry, but this case isn’t it. I don’t say this because I don’t care that Wayne is in prison, or because I think the precedent is correct. I say this because having the Supreme Court throw out the NFA is the only way we’re ever going to, once again, have the right to own machine guns. Going after the NFA straight out of the gate, with a defendant who is a militia member, in the 8th circuit, which is one of the most hostile ones, is a great way to make sure we get more precedent on the books when we eventually do go after the NFA in the Supreme Court. You can bet they will scrutinize every lower court ruling when coming to THAT decision. So please. Let’s not give the anti-gunners more ammo in court.
If you must write the federal judge that presided over the Fincher case, be polite, and stick to intelligent, well reasoned, and non-accusatory arguments that are grounded in the law. You will never win someone over to your cause by accusing them of having been bribed to commit treason. I would have hoped that was obvious to all of us.
The Slow Implosion Stops for Now
I will very seldom post about business stuff on here, but it’s interesting to see my former employer actually turning a profit. What really gets me interested enough to post is that it seems they want to cash in on the troubelsome practice of civil asset forfeiture:
Separately, Unisys said Wednesday it received a blanket purchase agreement that could allow it to sell $112 million in services to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Asset Forfeiture Management Staff over eight years. The services are to support the staff’s consolidated asset tracking system. The government has already ordered $8 million in services under the agreement.
Boy I’m glad I don’t work for them anymore. Unisys executives have never known a customer so sleazy they wouldn’t deal with them. I’m glad my labor isn’t going to help the government steal private property more efficiently.
It’s crap like asset forfeiture that makes me laugh at the left when they try to get me to care about the fact that Bush is stomping all over our civil liberties. Maybe I’ll be able to get worked up about it when the left starts worrying about the civil liberties I’ve already lost because of the War on Drugs. Sorry, but at the end of the day, I’m a lot more concerned about the government stealing my property without proper due process, than I am about the NSA possibly listening in on phone calls when I call the middle east (which I do oh so regularly, you know).