Very nice looking 66-1. Peter asked me for information about finding it’s age. I think Tam is the resident Smith & Wesson expert, who could maybe point Peter in the right direction.
Year: 2008
Help Those Who Help You
SayUncle notices that some gun rights groups are going to be stacking up some serious legal bills, and encourages you to donate. I couldn’t agree more. Also, I would add to that list, the California Rifile and Pistol Association, who have joined NRA in the suit against San Francisco, which challenges the ban on firearms in Public Housing.
Interesting side note, the Plaintiff in the San Francisco case is a gay man who wants to be able to protect himself. So much for the notion of us being a bunch of cousin humping, gay hating rednecks eh?
So pony up and donate some bucks, or join these fine organizations. The outcome of all this will depend on hiring the very best attorneys, and that’s often not a cheap proposition.
UPDATE: See this bit linked by Random Nuclear Strikes as well.
FBI Chief Wary of Your Rights
It’s good to see President Bush committed to nominating bureaucrats who are committed to preserving and sustaining individual liberty:
By a 5-4 vote last week, the nation’s highest court struck down the District of Columbia’s 32-year-old ban on handguns, the first major pronouncement on gun rights in history. It upheld the right for communities to license guns.
Mueller said communities will have to determine their own license programs. As a former Marine who served in Vietnam, he said “I tend to believe weapons harm people and more often than not they harm the people carrying them.”
With his grandchildren going to college, Mueller said he hopes “those campuses will be weapons free.”
Except they didn’t say communities could license guns. In fact, The Court speicifcally said they do not address that. Since Mr. Heller did not ask the court the overturn the licensing requirement, The Court did not do so. I guess it’s too much to ask of CBS News to do a little research, rather than just repeating nonsense.
Hat tip to NRA-ILA
UPDATE: “I tend to believe weapons harm people and more often than not they harm the people carrying them.” I anxiously await Mr. Muller’s memo that informs all FBI agents that they should cease and desist from carrying firearms. Since it only endangers them, you know.
Airport Showdown
Apparently the Atlanta Airport has decided it’s above the new law passed by the Georgia Legislature, and signed into law by Governor Perdue. One of the reps who was behind the whole effort was Tim Bearden:
“I have a permit, and I have family I have to pick up at the airport tomorrow [Tuesday],” Bearden told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. “I’ll have one [a concealed weapon] with me at all times.”
Airport General Manager Ben DeCosta said if Bearden shows up at the world’s busiest airport with a gun, he’ll be busted.
“I can identify him, and I’ll have him arrested,” DeCosta said Monday. “We’re not fooling around. This is a post-terrorism environment.”
Mr. DeCosta is setting himself up for a Section 1983 suit in federal court. If I were Representative Bearden, I wouldn’t hesitate to sue this arrogant power hungry SOB into next week. It seems to me that tyranny doesn’t have that much sense these days, which is good for us.
Scott Bach on Heller
Scott Bach, who is President of the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, and an NRA Board member, has this to say about the Heller ruling:
That such a question was even the subject of controversy, or that there were dissenting Justices, is a sad testimony to the state of our nation. It is also a testimony to one of the worst hoaxes and frauds ever perpetrated by gun ban extremists: the phony claim that the phrase “right of the people” really means “right of only those people in state militia service” when firearms are involved.
There is no basis for such an assertion. Yet for years, those unable to legislate the Second Amendment away have shamelessly pursued a scheme to interpret it out of existence by convoluting its words and rewriting its history. They have actually argued, with a straight face, that one provision of the Bill of Rights doesn’t really apply to all Americans – just to some Americans.
Read the whole thing. It’s sure to displease this particular hoaxster, since the The Court has no doubt put the brakes on his attempt to ban muskets.
2008 ATF Party
Every year, the Independence Institute, which Dave Kopel is Research Director of, throws an Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Party (not in that order). Here are the pictures from 2008, held this past Saturday, June 28th. I will say, I am impressed by a second amendment scholar with such a wide collection of marksmanship badges.
20mm Rounds
Here’s what 20mm rounds fired from the M61A1 Vulcan Gun on an F16 can do to a Chevy Suburban. They say only 70 rounds were fired, which is basically a tap on the 6,000 rounds-per-minute Vulcan.
Texas Burglar Shooting Case Update
Joe Horn, who last year shot two burglars that had broken into his neighbor’s home in Pasadena, TX has been cleared by a grand jury. It would seem that “because he needed shooting” is still an affirmative defense in the great state of Texas.
UPDATE: A time honored tradition, apparently. The lesson here would appear to be: don’t break into houses in Texas.
UPDATE: A commenter adds:
… The law is not that you can just go and protect your neighbor’s house if you feel like it, the law is that you can protect your neighbor’s house if they have asked you to look after it for them. Also, the grand jury failed to indict not because of this particular law but because he shot the suspects in his own yard, proving to the grand jury that the suspects were then a danger to him, NOT simply a threat to his neighbor’s property…
That’s pretty much my understanding of the case here as well. His argument was that the burglars came onto his property and threatened him.
Last Day of Para-USA Contest
Today is also the last day to vote for your favorite blogger to go to Blackwater with Todd Jarrett, and win a chance to go yourself. It should be a pretty good time. This time, instead of pimping myself, I’m going to ask if you haven’t voted for me, to pick some of the other bloggers who might need a few extra votes to push them over the top. Some suggestions for bloggers who I think want to go but might need a few extra votes.
- Keyboard and a .45
- The Unforgiving Minute
- Squeaky Wheel Seeks Grease
- Captain of a Crew of One
- Rustmeister’s Alehouse
- Sharp as a Marble
- The Ten Ring
- The View from North Central Idaho
- Traction Control
These are the folks I think are interested in going, but aren’t likely lock-ins. So if you’ve already voted for me, thank you. If you still want to vote for me, knock yourself out, but please consider voting for some of the other blogs on the list. The most important thing to do is vote, since that helps all blogs. They are only asking for your e-mail for the purposes of the contest, and you don’t have to opt-in for recieving e-mail from them.
If you’re not on this list, it means I don’t think you’ll need much help, or didn’t realize you were interested, so I’ll leave it to you to decide whether or not that’s a compliment or an insult.
How to Register Your Rights
DC has released this handy guide, which SayUncle tears apart.