2009 – Page 112 – Shall Not Be Questioned

LaPierre on Sotomayor

This nation was founded on a set of fundamental freedoms. Our Constitution does not give us those freedoms — it guarantees and protects them. The right to defend ourselves and our loved ones is one of those. The individual right to keep and bear arms is another. These truths are what define us as Americans.

The Supreme Court is compelled to respect the Second and 14th Amendments and to interpret and apply them correctly. The cases in which Judge Sotomayor and her colleagues have mishandled these issues raise serious questions about her fitness to serve on the highest court in the land.

Honestly, after getting the low down on the testimony Bitter watched yesterday, even putting the gun issue aside, I think she has qualification issues.Â She was evasive and vague even when asked to articulate basic constitutional issues.Â On matters specific, being vague is hardly unique to Sotomayor in a confirmation hearing, but I can remember Roberts being able to cleanly articulate constitutional principles without too much trouble.Â She was seemingly incapable of even that.

Let the Hysterics Begin

Looks like Arizona is starting to mirror Tennessee in hysterics over restaurant carry.

Wild West

The Brady Campaign and various other interest groups always tell us it’ll be like the Wild West if we let people carry guns with them.Â Well, maybe they were right.

Flaming Assholes of Pennsylvania

According to Fast Eddie’s press staff, if you show up in Harrisburg to tell folks about alternatives to hiking taxes, you’re a “flaming asshole.”Â Note that the person insulted was not interrupting the event, just passing out press releases after the press conference.

Our Governor, one who believes we should be worshiping statutes of him on our mantles, is always the epitome of class.

Philly Area Blog Meet

Bitter has organized a Philadelphia-area blog meet up. We’ll be having lunch with folks from all around the area on Sunday, July 26. If you’re a blogger who is willing to come out to join us, just let Bitter know.

More details can be found on her blog. As she hears from more folks, she will update the list of attendees.

Title II Frankenguns

These are pretty interesting Title II firearms (a.k.a. machine guns).Â Based off of Stemple 76/45 receiver tubes, with Swedish M37/Suomi M31 components, and an MG34 fire control system, talk about a Frankengun.Â But they are under $8000 and transferable.Â Â They make an M1 look-a-like too if you’re interested.Â Looks like they also make a few other neat things, like a belt fed upper for an AR-15/M16, and MG42 semi-auto kit guns.Â I’ve always thought belt fed semi-autos were kind of silly, though.

Arizona Has Fixed It’s Restaurant Carry Problem

Both Danno and Dustin are reporting.Â Very good.Â I found that at the NRA Convention, being on foot, it was a real pain in the ass to deal with.Â Can we get this fixed in North Carolina before Charlotte?

UPDATE: Parking lot carry was signed as well.

Hunters of the World Unite!

Over at the Desert Rat, a message I think more hunters need to hear.Â Here in Pennsylvania, we have the pigeon hunting bill coming up once again.Â I am sincerely hoping this bill can be stopped from coming up on the floor, especially in the House. Hunters should be concerned, because an HSUS victory on this issue will mean they will come back to Pennsylvania, and will use a victory on the pigeon hunting ban to help raise money throughout the Commonwealth.Â Even if you don’t like pigeon shooting, a victory here will strengthen HSUS, and comparatively weaken hunters politically.

We also have a few representatives in my district, one a freshman, who are otherwise pretty good friends to the issue, but who are probably going to have to part ways with NRA on this one vote.Â I was hoping to see them protected from having to make a choice between the sensibilities of their districts and their NRA grades.Â This is thanks to the efforts of Philadelphia Gun Club, who fanned the flames on this issue a few months ago, and brought the issue back into the forefront.Â Thanks guys!Â Why bother with a strategy when we can just create a disaster in the media, right?Â I was hoping for the pigeon shoot bill to stay on the back burner, but not now.

New ATF Rules on Receivers

Seems they are trying to come up with some sensible way of regulating receivers.Â I think they are failing.Â Pretty obviously they are a firearm, but it seems ATF wants to treat them as a pistol in some cases, but a rifle in another.Â ATF often gets accused of making things up as they go, and that criticism is not without justification.Â But don’t forget that Congress really holds much of the blame for drafting a body of law that’s poorly written and incoherent when taking as a whole.Â Federal bureaucracies have to make sense out of incoherent and poorly drafted bodies of law through regulations.Â Anyone who works in a heavily regulated industry, as I do, knows that guns are hardly the only product this applies to.

To me the real outrage is that Congress has basically conceded that it has no idea what it is doing when it makes law, and has to abrogate a great deal of lawmaking ability to “experts” in the executive branch.Â It shouldn’t be costitutional, but I have to admit that quite often the “experts,” and I use that in quotes deliberately, still know a hell of a lot more about the subject matter subjected to the laws and regulations than your average congress critter.

In the Mail

I’ve decided I want to compete in Silhouette Air Pistol “Any Sight” category, so I’ve placed an order with the Crosman Custom Shop for a .22 Caliber CO2 pistol, showing here:

One of the guys I shoot with uses a .22 caliber CO2 pistol, similar to the one I’m getting, and when I’ve tried it, I’ve consistently been able to hit animals with it, despite the fact that the triggers on Crosman’s pistols kind of suck.Â The heavier weight of the .22 barrel, plus the weight of the scope make a difference, I think.Â Rowland even threaded a nut on the end of his model, and even though it creates some jokes about which end of the gun the nut is really on, I think it does help with it’s balance of the pistol.Â Mine will have a brake on the end, which should, hopefully, closely approximate.

The big disadvantage with a .22 air pistol is that you go through CO2 a lot faster.Â Getting 40 shots out of a .22 is about the best you can hope for, whereas 80 shots isn’t too much to ask of a .177 air pistol on a good day.Â In the winter, CO2 is a real bear.Â But I still plan to get an IZH 46 at some point.Â For now I want to be able to shoot in two categories, and you can’t beat 155 dollars as a price for getting in the game.

Oh, one thing Crosman’s Custom shop will do for you is laser engraving.Â No extra cost.Â You know all those stories about how the FN Five-Seven is supposedly known in Mexican drug cartel circles as “Mata Policia?” In Spanish, this means “Cop Killer.”Â Much like the cop killer bullet hysterics from the 80s, this is another bunch of overblown nonsense from the anti-gun crowd, as the armor piercing rounds for the Five-Seven are unavailable to civilians.Â In honor, or perhaps in jest, of the hysterics, I am having Crosman engrave my air pistol with “Mata Gallina” which translated means “Chicken Killer.”Â You see, these fearsome weapons are not only known to kill the chickens, but hurl them back several yards, making them hard to find in the grass.Â It is truly devastating.