David Codrea notices another interesting bit from ATF’s released data.  They don’t break up traces according to “assault weapon” and “sporting guns”. So that does make one wonder how, exactly, the anti-gunners, back around 1994, were claiming that assault weapons accounted for a substantial quantity of firearms traces.  They do have a category for machine guns, but those are, despite what you see in the movies, almost never used in crime.
Year: 2007
Missouri Permit to Purchase to End Tuesday
The timing here is ironic. Ironic in the sense that it’s happening on the same day Reverend Jesse Jackson is planning nationwide protests for stronger gun laws.
Dave Hardy tells us that August 28th is the day that the Missouri permit to purchase ends. There are a few states that have this requirement. New Jersey is one, but New Jersey enacted it in 1968, at a time when the whole country was trending toward more gun control.
North Carolina and, until Tuesday, Missouri are others. In the case of these two states, the laws are remnants of Jim Crow. Missouri passed its law after race riots in the 20s. North Carolina passed its law a few years before. Though applied equally today, these laws were originally intended to disarm disfavored minority groups, including African-Americans, and for all practical purposes, were never applied to your average WASP.
Robert Cottrol and Ray Diamond have also written more on the subject. I had the pleasure of meeting Professor Cottrol at in St. Louis last April. If you’ve never been on an NRA convention, it’s a great opportunity to meet with some of the great minds of second amendment scholarship. The 2008 meeting will be in Louisville, Kentucky. Great place to go and meet up with interesting folk, and some of your favorite gun bloggers.
Holding the State to its Burden
I have to agree with Bitter on the importance of holding the state to its burden of proof when it wants to remove someone’s freedom in order to provide retribution for a crime, and to protect society. It’s a dangerous road we’re traveling when we start suggesting defense attorneys are responsible for crime.
This is Pretty Crazy
Countertop links to a story of a crooked cop who raped a woman he pulled over, got caught, and….. sentenced to three years.
Cracking Down
Counter Protests
The Other Sebastian is getting his game on and counter protesting the anti-gun folk. RealCo is a gun shop in Prince George’s County that’s a recent target of anti-gunners due to the number of guns recovered by police that trace back to it. Hardly a shocker in a high crime county that borders a high crime city (where guns are illegal).
He also needs a bullhorn to counter the bullcrap, if anyone in the area can point him in the right direction.
Proven Technologies
Thirdpower documents some other Brady “proven” technologies. No one seems to be talking about ballistic fingerprinting anymore. Microstamping is all the range among the “in” crowd.
New Jersey is a Choir?
Bitter seems surprised some think that New Jersey is “the choir” in regards to preaching about gun rights. I agree with her assessment. The voice of gun control has been all New Jersey residents have heard for years, and that’s reflected in their laws. We have a story to tell to the residents of New Jersey, and it’s a compelling one.
We have been on the defensive for quite some time. Now we’re at a point where the anti-gun people are on the defensive, and are touting what amount to small losses as huge victories for gun control, because they got something dammit. Dog food tastes great if you haven’t had a square meal in 14 years.
We have them on the defensive now. Did anyone see the video with Andrew Dysart and Paul Helmke? When you have Paul on C-SPAN defending their position on campus carry, folks, we’ve come a long way. Bryan Miller’s and Scott Bach’s blog are a good way for us to contribute to that, by making sure people reading in New Jersey are getting more than the crap the media and anti-gun crowd wants them to hear. It’s time to start attacking them on their own territory, in states they think are “safe”, and that starts with the public debate. To that end, I am going to submit a membership application to the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, the NRA affiliate for that state. In addition to buying some ammo in August 28th, why not also consider donating some money to your favorite gun rights group in an anti-gun state, or offer some support. If anyone has any recommendations for groups, have at it in the comments.
UPDATE: Thirdpower points out:
With all due respect to Andrew Dysart, not only is Paul, former mayor and president of a Nat’l organization, reduced to arguing against CCW on campus, but to debating w/ college students.
Indeed
Anyone Ever Had a Crown Lengthening?
I am a dental phobic. If you gave me a choice between shooting myself in the leg, and being in that chair, I’d have to think about it for a minute. But now I’ve gotten myself in deep.
I waited way too long to get my wisdom teeth removed. I just had it done last November, and only then because I had to, or I faced losing more teeth if I didn’t get it done, since they were starting to decay the teeth they were impacting.
Well, the time as come to pay the piper for that, both in money terms and in chair time terms. In order to repair the tooth my now absent wisdom tooth had impacted, I need to have a crown lengthening done, then a root canal, and then have a crown fitted. All in all, I expect my out of pocket cost will be a small fortune. Given that I use my teeth all the time, I don’t think I have much choice.
So how painful is the aftermath of this crown lengthening crap, for any of you who have ever had one? It is like having tooth filled? Or are we talking about having to get more happy drugs like I did for the wisdom teeth? Root canal doesn’t scare me too much. Been there, done that. But any unknown dental procedure invariably makes me lose sleep.
We should really …
… order a nice big print of this, frame it, and mail it to Paul Helmke at Brady Campaign headquarters.  We could even add a nice card that says “We win!”, to sweeten it up.