February 2010 – Page 2 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Board Candidates

I don’t really want to tell folks who to vote for, and who not to vote for, but since the Nominating Committee has decided to keep him on the ballot, I thought I’d remind everyone of this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSGySNLyACE[/youtube]

Joaquin Jackson is hardly anti-gun. I’d classify him as having varied beliefs on the topic much like many Americans do, and as Cam so thoroughly documents each night on NRA News. He’s also rendered good service to NRA up until that incident, and for that I want to thank him. The problem with what he said is, Jackson isn’t just an ordinary American, he’s a candidate for the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association, and with that comes certain expectations. One of those expectations, at least in my opinion, is you don’t throw high-power shooters and collectors under the bus. I’ll let you all decide for yourself, but for you I present this evidence.

Getting Ready to Go to DC

Posting light this morning. Bitter is busy getting ready for DC, and I have some issues to clean up at work. We’re headed there for the McDonald case, and to meet up and say thank you to some of the people involved in the case. Win or lose, the attorneys and plaintiffs involved in this venture deserve our respect and admiration. I feel the least I can do is be there, if it means being outside, quietly cheering them on. Let’s hope for a great victory.

ATF Seizes Airsoft Guns

SayUncle reports on this. Apparently it’s a very realistic version of the M4. I found a site that sells and demonstrates this Airsoft gun here. It would seem to have all the pin holes in the right place for accepting an M16 fire control group. Not saying it does, because it’s difficult to tell without taking measurements, but if it accepts those parts, plus a standard M16 or M4 upper, it’s effectively an M16 lower receiver, and would be considered a machine gun under the law.

Another video here, which seems to show extra junk in the lower, but it’s hard to tell if it would come out, or is a permanent part of the lower. I’m skeptical that you could punch out the Airsoft fire control on this and drop in an M16 fire control group without any modifications, but it’s really hard to tell without having one in hand to look at. Here’s a close up of the lower.

What do you think? I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who have experience with M16 lowers.

Man Purse

So how do you disguise a man purse so it doesn’t look metro? Well, make it look like you’re toting a pistol around, that’s how. If a shoulder rig isn’t your fancy, there’s also the OWB model.

Laser Sights

This is an older brand, cowboy style.

Paybacks Are Hell

As much as I might be a proponent of transparency in Government, I have no sympathy here:

A coalition of gun violence prevention groups inÂ VirginiaÂ (Protest Easy Guns, the Virginia Center for Public Safety, the Virginia Chapters of the Million Mom March, and the Angel Fund) strongly condemns the decision of the House Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee to hold a surprise subcommittee meeting last night to pass HB 49, a bill that would repealÂ Virginia’s one-handgun-per-month law.

Late last week, the subcommittee, chaired by Del.Â Thomas C. Wright, had announced that it would conduct no further meetings, leaving HB 49 unreported. Â Yesterday, late in the day, the subcommittee inexplicably reconvened with less than a few hours notice to the public to approve this single piece of legislation.

You did this to us for decades, and now paybacks are hell. They raise the specter of Virginia Tech, but fail to mention that the killer there bought two guns in compliance with the rationing law.

Camp Perry 1935

In this month’s copy of the PRPA Newsletter, the Pennsylvania Civilian Rifle Team from Camp Perry National Matches in 1935:

Click for a closer look. Everyone has what would have been the “assault weapon” of the time, the M1903 Springfield. But man, look at the size of those spotting scopes. Have optics really come that far in 75 years?

Not Much Change for Alaska

The Alaska media reaction to the new National Park rule is predictable:

A new law went into effect on Monday that allows visitors to carry guns in national parks in the United States. But it wonâ€™t have much of an impact on Alaska because weâ€™ve been able to pack heat in most of our national parks all along.

Actually, there were a few parks, like Denali, that prohibited firearms. But most allowed them. They humorously note, “If you canâ€™t carry a gun into a national park in Alaska, where the heck can you carry a gun?”

They also note that discharge is still unlawful. No mention of whether a self-defense exception exists, but presumably you’d have that defense as a matter of common law.

Rodentgate Over?

You folks might remember the Rodentgate Scandal in the Pennsylvania Capitol Cafeteria. Capitol Ideas reports they have finally passed a surprise health inspection. I have to agree with him about, “This ain’t to say that we’re ever dining there again …Â ever. But good for them.” To be honest, now I’m worried about any Aramark cafeteria.

But it’s nice to know when we have our annual lobby day in Harrisburg this year, some of our more adventurous Second Amendment activists will have the option of dining in atÂ Chet Ed. I hear their chocolate chip muffins are particularly good. 100% organic chocolate too. No preservatives.

Ack! More Snow!

The northeast is getting whited out again. It’s coming down 5-9 inches by the end of the day, and 6-12 by the time this is all over. I’ll be working from home. Tomorrow may be dicey too. Fortunately, I just switched work over to a 35 megabit/sec synchronous fiber connection from an old T1 circuit, which makes working from home not that materially different than working at the office.