2009 – Page 221 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Smart Gun Help

Eugene Volokh is looking for some input into a law review topic of smart guns and the Second Amendment.Â Some thoughts:

The electromagnetic pulse problem can be solved with shielding.Â You basically just need to build a Faraday cage around the sensitive electronic parts.Â The real problem is such electronics will need to rely on batteries, which either must be replaced or charged.Â The power distribution system is definitely vulnerable to EMP, and would be out in such an attack.Â Batteries might be in short supply.

Personalization requirements on smart guns could interfere with lawful self-defense in the instance where the gun is registered and assigned to a family member, and another family member requires its use for self-defense.Â In New Jersey, for instance, it’s technically unlawful to pass a firearm to your spouse, even in a self-defense situation, if that firearm is lawfully possessed by you.Â Presumably smart technology would be mandated to enforce laws regarding transferring, loaning or selling firearms.

Electrical motors and actuators, which any smart gun would presumably need to function properly, are not nearly as reliable as the mechanical linkages present in ordinary firearms.Â Motors and actuators can be made fairly reliable, but firearms need a very high degree of reliability to be useful.

I’m skeptical that smart gun technology will ever be reliable enough for the purpose of defending life.Â Certainly the problem that smart guns purportedly aim to solve can be more easily and cheaply solved by a quality, quick open handgun safe.Â Given that, smart guns seem like a solution in search of a problem.

Letter to the Editor Opportunities

Every time a story like this appears in the media, calling for a renewal of the Assault Weapons Ban, we should be ready to hit them with Letters to the Editor.Â If we’re going to work to sabotage the Brady Campaign’s efforts to create a positive media environment for renewal, this is what we’re going to have to do.Â Good guidelines are 200 words or less for an LTE.Â You need to get your follow up in quick, while the editorial is still fresh.Â Be clear and concise.Â Pick one line of argument and stick to it, rather than jumping all over the place.

I think every black rifle owner out there should go to at least one NRA high-power, CMP, or practical match this spring, and get yourself classified as a competitive shooter.Â Some letters should focus on the widespread use of AR-15s and various other military patterned rifles in shooting competition.Â Identify yourself a competitive shooter who uses one in matches.Â Talk about the qualities that make them beneficial for sport shooting.Â All letters should stress we’re not speaking of machine guns, which is the most common misconception.Â Other letters should focus on their use in self-defense.Â Talk about the AR/AK benefits for that purpose: their smaller size, the fact that they fire an intermediate powered cartridge, the fact that you can easily mount a flashlight to the rifle.Â The availability of ammunition because of their widespread use in law enforcement.

The only way we’re going to come out of these next four nightmarish years unscathed is if we all pitch in, and help defeat this bill in the realm of public opinion before it even has a chance to go anywhere in Congress.

VHFA Reintoruced in Congress

The Veterans Hertiage Firearms Act, which authorizes a limited amesty for registering NFA items for veterans who served from 1934 to 1968, has been reintroduced by Congressman Rehberg of Montana.Â Â Baby steps.

Jim Crow for Gun Owners

Dave Workman has an interesting take on Congressman Rush’s bill in Illinois, which requires a written test as a precondition of licensing:

From the late 1890s through the mid-1960s, African-American citizens in the Deep South were systematically and egregiously denied their voting rights through the administration of so-called “literacy tests.”

It took an act of Congress and some Supreme Court rulings to abolish this despicable form of bigotry. But apparently history is lost on Congressman Bobby L. Rush, who represents the 1st District of Illinois.

Astonishingly, this black congressman has introduced a gun control measure that would, among other things, require potential gun owners to first apply for a firearm license and before that license would be issued, they would have to present “a certificate attesting to the completion . . . of a written firearms examination.”

If he were proposing this for voting he’d be banished from town.Â I guess in Congressman Rush’s world, some rights are more equal than others.

Let it Snow

The snow coming down provides the opportunity for some camera trickery:

I like playing with exposures, and seeing what the effects are.Â Some exposures in snow can almost look like daylight.

Tonight on Gun Nuts Radio

Caleb and Breda are hosting John Hutchinson, author of The Great New Orleans Gun Grab, on their show at 9PM tonight.Â I think this should be a very interesting show.Â So tune in to what listeners often call “the fastest hour on the Internet.”

UN Human Rights Declaration

Ilya Somin has a great citicism of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights over at Volokh.Â From my point of view, one of it’s major deficiencies is a lack of recognition of a natural right of self-defense, and the legal right to aquire, possess, and train with the means to defend yourself.Â But I suppose that could end up being “exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.”Â You know, like these purposes.Â Can’t have that.

Good Arguments on the Assault Weapons Issue

Chris Cox has an article in FrontPage Magazine that outlines the issue well:

Many fully-automatic firearms can fire 10 rounds in a second, which theoretically would work out to 600 rounds per minute, but they cannot be reloaded fast enough to achieve anything near that rate in reality. But we are not talking about fully-automatic firearmsâ€”we’re talking about semi-automatics, and the difference between them need not be explained here.

I think that’s a good way to frame that issue.Â Machine guns aren’t these scary objects that spew death and hellfire from their barrels, but that’s not what we’re talking about either.Â This changes the subject, without throwing machine guns under the bus.Â Is NRA deliberately being more careful about this?Â I hope so.

NRA members who own AR-15s and other so-called “assault weapons,” you are not alone. There are nearly two million AR-15s in our country, the same number of M1s, the same number of M1 Carbines, and many more Mini-14s, semi-automatic shotguns, pump-action shotguns, and all the other guns the anti-gunner want to call “assault weapon.” Countless millions of American own handguns that use magazines of over 10 rounds.

I would say that passes the Heller “common use” test pretty soundly.

Brady Impact on Election

Howard Nemerov has done some great research on the election.Â Part one gives an insight into how interest groups use endorsements as a political tool.Â Part two covers how much of a factor guns really were in this electoin.Â The final part three takes on the Brady notion of “sensible gun laws”.Â Howard concludes that the Brady Campaign has been greatly overstating its influence on the Democratic victory of 2008.

McCain Not Backing Stimulus

Because I was a campaign donor, I still get e-mails from John McCain.Â For the most part, I just wish he would go away, but today’s was welcome to hear:

I believe we need to evaluate every bit of spending in this stimulus proposal with one important criteria – does it really stimulate the economy and help create jobs – if the answer is no, it does not belong in a so-called stimulus package.

Yes, I agree, this is good.

I have long been a fighter against wasteful spending in Washington and long an advocate for a balanced budget — that will never change. I realize we face extraordinary challenges with our economy today, but that is not an excuse for more irresponsibly from Washington. I hope you will join me in saying no to this stimulus package as it currently exists by signing this petition.

If McCain is on board as a no, that bodes well for the chances of the Republicans holding in the Senate as they did in the House.Â Let us hope this represents serious opposition to this bogus stimulus gravy train, and not just a desire among Republicans to take their turn at the trough.