The Mini-14 is now, apparently a “poor man’s assault rifle.” They have become a parody of themselves, truly. I’m pretty sure the Mini-14 is legal even in California. Josh Sugarmann has gone from being the evil genius of the gun control movement to a sad joke. How the mighty have fallen. That said, Josh can still comfort himself by taking home a bigger salary than most of us can dream of, for producing essentially nothing. Certainly nothing of greater value than most of us produce for free every day. How does it feel to be a joke, Josh? Hell, I feel worse for his patrons. How does it feel to fund a joke?
Month: July 2011
What Every Gun Collection Needs
A 40mm auto cannon:
And yes, this Bofors L60 is fully transferrable.
Canton Ohio Council President …
… forgot the first rule of PR is that when you find yourself in a hole, to stop digging:
What your officer did was unconscionable. There’s absolutely no fucking excuses for that video I saw. This guy needs to be raked over the coals. You Sir, no matter what you say, are against the Second Amendment. This guy should not have a council meeting for the next several months that is not inundated with angry gun owners from Ohio. This guy has thrown down, and it’s time to act.
Fast and Furious Hearings
First from local Congressman, and former US Attorney Pat Meehan:
Meehan represents the Congressional district I grew up in. Also see this clip from Congressman Jason Chaffetz from Utah:
Dave Hardy is reporting the press is finally starting to really pay attention, and points to all the articles appearing about the scandal. I have to hand to Mike Vanderboegh and David Codrea, who stuck on this story when a lot of folks, including me, were skeptical, and were reporting on this long before the media had a peep to say about it. Despite whatever differences I may have with them, I feel they deserve some recognition for top notch citizen journalism.
Norway Killer Used Mini-14 and Glock 17
Apparently the Mini-14 was the “most military weapon allowed in Norway.” The pretext he used to get it was deer hunting. The irony is that a Mini-14 is not generally enough gun for hunting, though I don’t know, maybe deer are smaller in Norway.
Getting a permit for the pistol proved more difficult, as he had to demonstrate regular attendance at a sport shooting club.[21] He also bought 10 30-round magazines from a US supplier. In November, December and January he went through 15 training sessions at the Oslo Pistol Club, and by mid-January his application to purchase a Glockpistol was approved.
We’ve seen this before. Mass killers seem to be willing to jump through whatever hoops you put in front of them. He even went to Prague in an attempt to illegally obtain firearms, but was unsuccessful. Sounds like he wanted specifically an AK-47, and I guess didn’t realize the Czech equivalent is this rifle.
Developing Some Real Grass Roots
I’m glad to see CSGV is developing some real grassroots. The real tragedy (for them) is that it’s one of the more realistic and sane comments I’ve seen on their site.
Fast and Furious Hearings
John Richardson is doing a pretty good job of covering the developments, including testimony of ATF attache to Mexico Darren Gil that they were in the dark in regards to this operation. If you want to watch live, follow this link.
That Didn’t Take Long
VPC has a new white paper out “The Glock: A Favorite of Mass Shooters.” It’s the favorite of police officers, peaceable Americans, and several European militaries too, but you won’t hear VPC mention that.
VPC is perhaps the most irrelevant organization out there today, given the realities of the post-Heller world. The Glock is, quite possibly, the ideal poster child for Heller’s “common use” test. One could argue it is quite possibly the most deserving arm of constitutional protection out there today.
Political Consequences of Norway Massacre
Already being felt in Scandinavia. Even though the Swedish media is suggesting their gun laws would have stopped the mass killer, Sweden is still looking at tightening it’s laws. Finland was already on its way to doing so, and is now following through, with handgun sales plummeting as the new law takes effect.
We watchful of the gun control proponents, who don’t want to ban guns, by the way, speaking enthusiastically about how much more common sense Europeans have for implementing common sense laws, while America continues to do nothing.
The Patent Cliff
That’s what it’s being called in the industry, and what Instapundit is reporting on currently. The good news is that drugs are indeed going to get much cheaper as patents on the hot drugs expire. The bad news is there isn’t much in the way of new drugs following up to take their place. The reasons for this are complicated, but part of the problem is how insane the FDA has gotten with their expectations on side affects and adverse reactions. If Obama takes credit for this, it will be kind of laughable. This kind of achievement isn’t something I’d like to preside over, because it essentially spells the death of innovation in this industry.
I’ve worked in pharmaceuticals pretty much my entire career, and in my current job search, I’m biased against taking jobs in that industry. Unfortunately, it has farther to fall before it hits bottom, and starts becoming receptive to new business models and new ideas. As much as I’d like to blame it all on the FDA, it is not the case. All the easy targets have been exploited, and the industry is not prepared to accept the kinds of innovations necessary to target the harder ones.
For me, in the IT part of the business, it’s not a huge deal; my skills are in demand in other industries. I feel for my former colleagues, who are going to have a much tougher time, because their skills are not transferrable.