December 2007 – Page 23 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Ramsey Struck By Blindingly Obvious

Philadelphia’s new police chief, who’s former career involved running the Washington Metro Police force, is at least aware of the blindingly obvious:

“Declaring a state of emergency is fine with me,” Ramsey, the former Washington police chief, said in an interview Friday. “Crime is at an unacceptable level. . . . It’s certainly something we have to get a handle on real quick.”

How Ramsey will carry out the emergency response is less certain. He spent much of last week getting his bearings in his new city – meeting with Johnson and the department’s command staff as well as attending several district roll calls to introduce himself to the rank and file.

So his first act will be to declare a crime emergency.Â That’s leadership!Â This already is looking like a farce to me.

Passing It On

I’ll give Ed Rendell credit when he does something good for sportsmen:

In recent years, Pennsylvania has been at the forefront when it comes to creating and expanding hunting and shooting sports opportunities for youth and promoting them as family activities. Last year, that position received national attention when Gov. Ed Rendell demonstrated his support by holding a public signing ceremony that made Pennsylvania the first state to adopt Families Afield legislation.

Created by the United States Sportsmenâ€™s Alliance, Families Afield addresses the concerns of declining participation in hunting. Since then, other states â€” recognizing the economic impact of the shooting sports and hunting, and its direct benefit to conservation â€” have followed Pennsylvaniaâ€™s lead by passing similar legislation.

The bill allows adults to mentor young hunters without having to have a license.Â Truth be told, we need this across the board.Â The main obstacle to me going out and hunting for the first time is the fact that I have to find time to take hunters education, and buy the license.Â Hunting will continue to decline as long as barriers to the sport remain high.Â We need hunting for the shooting sports to be healthy, and for our rights to be safe.Â This is a great step in the right direction, but I think we need more.

A Gunnie Hoax

I’m pretty sure this Five Year Plan that Armed Canadian dug up is a hoax.Â The Brady Campaign wouldn’t be so bold as to outline their long terms plans in a memo like this, nor would they write so badly.Â Of course, that’s not to say there isn’t a grain of truth to what’s going on here.

While I’m almost certain this memo was written by a pro-gun person to rally gun owners into action, it has a basis in something called Brady II, which at once time was actually introduced into Congress.

Pacifists

Thirdpower is surprised by anti-gun Brady clan member Kelli:

I don’t care how oppressive this government, or any other future government, becomes. I would NEVER advocate using the U.S. Constitution to justify taking up arms against them.

I don’t get why folks bother with her. There’s an old saying that you should never wrestle with pigs, because you’ll both end up covered in shit, only the pig will like it. I think Kelli falls into that category.

That said, it’s a common thing to hear from pacifists that violence is never justified. I don’t consider pacifism to simply be wrong, I consider it to be immoral. There is a price to be paid for liberty, and pacifists are free riders. They enjoy liberty because other people stand ready to engage in violence on their behalf.

We’re lucky to live in a society where people can afford these naive beliefs, but other people are willing to sacrifice, at best their own psychological health, and their lives in the worst instance, so that people like Kelli can continue to believe there’s “There are other ways to fight. More humane ones, at that.”

Alcohol and Guns

It’s Clayton Cramer link day here, it seems.Â Â This one on Alcohol and Guns.Â As a general rule, I agree that alcohol and guns don’t mix.Â If you’re too sauced to drive a car, you’re too sauced to handle a firearm.Â But I think that many of the state restrictions designed to prevent this are silly.Â My prescription would be for states to make it unlawful to carry or use a firearm while intoxicated.Â Â I think that’s a pretty simple solution. It’s the same thing we use for cars, and operating a car and drinking is far more dangerous than carrying and drinking.

Yankee Go Home

Ahab has the latest example of why New Yorkers suck.Â Seriously, where do people get off moving some place and telling people how to live their lives?Â Why are northern urban dwellers seemingly all infected with this type of cultural chauvinism?

Maybe it’s because I come from a city that’s the forgotten toilet bowl of the northeast, but I wouldn’t move to North Carolina and presume to tell people there how to live.

Stolen Identities and Gun Purchases

Clayton Cramer has an essay up about criminals using stolen identities to get around the NICS system. He makes this observation:

My second thought is that if, as the gun control advocates claim, criminals can easily buy guns at gun shows and from private parties, why did Labeet go to the extra work and risk of buying guns from a licensed dealer, using a stolen identity that might risk getting him caught? This really does suggest that Labeet considered purchasing guns from a dealer less risky than buying them through the â€œgun show loopholeâ€ that we hear so much about.

My guess is, because finding the guns he was looking for would have been more difficult using this method. I’ve seen folks wandering gun shows with a flag in the barrel looking to sell a firearm. I have seen a few M1 Garands, and maybe a Mauser or two, but most of the time the guy is selling a deer rifle or a shotgun. Even if you find someone with the gun you want, there’s always the chance he’ll think you’re shady and refuse to sell it to you. I certainly wouldn’t sell a gun to someone I had a bad feeling about, and I think most gun owners feel the same way. A private owner has more incentive to discriminate than a dealer does.

Primary Endorsements

Bitter has the details.Â Â I still think it would be a mistake for NRA to become involved in the Republican primary, but they may just be dangling the carrot.Â This kind of press coverage certainly isn’t bad.

M1 Sweetness

I am one step closer to getting my M1 Garand.Â I received this e-mail this morning from the CMP:

We have received and verified your recent order. There is nothing that we will be able to tell you about the order until we have input all orders received ahead of yours into the system. Your order will now advance to our sales area and from there to our shipping area.Â Please note, that unless otherwise listed, our order to ship time is 30 days. You will receive other emails as the order progresses.

The one I ordered was a Springfield Armory M1 in Correct Grade.Â I hope I end up getting it.

E-Postal Match Results

USCitizen has the results up for this month’s match.Â I see Mr. Completely is still dominating the board with his High Standard.Â I feel bad that I’ve missed all the matches since August, but I will definitely start back up again in the spring.

Lately I’ve been shooting trap Monday night at the club, and indoor silhouette on Thursday nights, which doesn’t leave much room for e-postaling.Â I’m a reasonable clay shooter, but I’m not too good at shooting from standing position, so I’m hoping to get more proficient at Silhouette as time goes on.Â Right now my scores border on embarrassing, as I’m missing about 1/3rd of the animals.