It’s disappointing, but if Jerry Brown was going to veto one for us, I wouldn’t have expected it to be this one. It will also help deal with the issue of federal judges arguing “Well, you know, if some form of carry is allowed, then the constitutional requirement is satisfied, even if it’s unloaded open carry.” While I’ve been impressed to the degree that federal Judges have twisted intermediate scrutiny to uphold every restrictive gun law in creation, this is now, unambiguously, a complete ban on carrying a firearm, except with a permit that’s issued in California in an arbitrary and capricious manner in most juridictions.
Month: October 2011
Meet Some Real Gun Violence Prevention Activists
This is what groups like CSGV and Brady Campaign would look like if they were really about gun violence prevention, rather than being about collecting money from suburbanites who think guns are icky. I don’t think this group, “CeaseFire Philadelphia”, is affiliated with CeaseFire PA. CeaseFire Philadelphia seems to be about actually intervening with troubled young men, to get them to give up a life of violence, using older men from the same neighborhoods, who have since given that life up. According to the article, it seems to work. I think programs like this are a great thing if they work.
CeaseFire PA, on the other hand, have a number of members that live in rough and tumble neighborhoods like Rador and Ardmore, and I think perhaps have seen some of the individuals from CeaseFire Philadelphia, when they drive quickly through those neighborhoods with the doors locked after getting lost on the way back from dinner and a show.
Happy Columbus Day
I’ve always wanted to have off for Columbus Day, so I could know what it feels like to be a federal worker. Well, now I finally have a Columbus Day off for the first time since I was in college. I’d be more thrilled if the circumstances were different, but I’ll take what I can get these days.
UPDATE: Quick Columbus day trivia. Columbus Day is something celebrated more among Italian-Americans than many other ethic groups. Philadelphia, traditionally having a largish Italian population, renamed a road in the city to Columbus Boulevard. I still call it Delaware Avenue.
Working on a New Look
I finally made a development copy of Snowflakes in Hell to start working on our new look. Our new look will include ads, but I’m going to do my best to keep them tasteful. I’m not going to take huge flashing banner ads or anything like that. I’ll do my best to boot ads that I find annoying.
There’s just not really any way I can continue to justify the expense of keeping the blog running with all the hope and change that’s happening lately. This blog should, by my projections, make enough to cover costs, and that’s all I’m really looking for. No one is going to get rich running a gun blog.
But the biggest change you’ll probably notice, unless I can’t make my idea for it work (I’m a horrible graphic artist), is a name change for the blog. With the exception of the name, and a new look and feel, it’ll be the same blog. Same posts, same archives, and same comments as always. If links worked before, they’ll still work. I am looking at implementing a few requested enhancements people asked for.
I picked the name “Snowflakes in Hell” hastily, never thinking I’d keep this up. Ever since I passed the 1000 visitors a day mark, I’ve hated it. I’ve also hated it when I introduce myself as a blogger, and I get a weird look from the uninitiated when I tell them the name. Rather than talking about the blog, I get to spend the first 10 minutes explaining the name. I’ve also, rather humorously, heard people that did not know I was Sebastian mention they found something on this site “Snowflakes in Hell,” but they didn’t understand what kind of site it was. With my name and theme, who can blame them? I want a theme and a name that draws people in. I think a more relevant name and theme will be necessary to take this blog to the next level, and continue to grow my audience, and improve my brand.
There will be a new URL associated with the new blog name, but the old URL will still be 100% functional if you’re a creature of habit. RSS feeds should continue to work as normal. We will still be blogging here as Sebastian and Bitter. I hope you’ll all keep reading, and I hope you like the new look and feel.
UPDATE: I should say “working on a new look and feel” = “battling endlessly with poor WordPress themes and plugins.” Snowflakes in Hell makes use of about a dozen plugins. Many of them don’t work nicely with these newfangled highly configurable themes. I’m having all kinds of problems getting some of them to work.
More on Social Coupons & Shooting Lessons
While the coupon I mentioned yesterday sold nearly 2,000 training deals, I decided to see if there was any other data on how well shooting instruction coupons sell through the various Groupon knock-offs.
Buffalo, NY – Current count: 262 people buying coupons to be trained
Charlotte, NC – 442 people trained
Gainesville, FL – 642 rounds of trap shot
Ft. Lauderdale, FL – 567 people trained
New Orleans, LA – 618 people trained
Winston-Salem, NC – 120 rounds of sporting clays shot
Richmond, VA – 351 people trained
Birmingham, AL – 992 shooters took to the range
Miami, FL – 374 people trained
It’s not just the US, either!
Edmonton, Alberta – 894 people trained
This is actually just highlights from one easily searchable site. I didn’t cover all of them, so the numbers are actually far higher than this. But, if you consider that the low number I found was 120 more people getting out to the range on a coupon that’s only available for 1-2 days at a time, these things are actually great for our movement.
It’s also a reminder people truly have fun going to the gun range. It’s much more exciting than the anti-gun range.
Popularity of Shooting Coupon Bargains
I clicked on an old link from a friend for a Living Social coupon offered a couple of weeks ago for an hour of firearms instruction, gun rental, and eye/ear protection in the DC area. Said friend was amused because of the description:
Are you ready for the best firearms deal to hit the DMV since District of Columbia v. Heller? Well, sharp shooter, focus your crosshairs on today’s deal and pull the trigger…
But today, I noticed just how many they sold – 1,957. Considering the coupon applies for up to 3 people with each deal purchased, that’s the potential for nearly 6,000 people to learn how to shoot thanks to this deal.
For the Love of John Moses Browning
Caleb talks about why we love the 1911 so:
[W]e love 1911s because there are quintessentially American. Like big fast muscle cars, the 1911 eschews European trends like big magazines full of tiny little bullets and seems to say that “if you can’t get it done with 7 rounds, bullets aren’t your problem, you just suck.â€
I am an unapologetic driver of one of the ugliest cars Honda ever made, and while my computers were “Designed in California,” they were definitely made by exploited workers in China.
But being a practical kind of guy, my 1911s are safe queens, and I have plenty of reasons to carry more rounds. If I’m going to bear that extra weight on my belt, I want it to be hot lead, and not cold steel.
The Eric Holder Defense
The BattleSwarm Blog notes Eric Holder’s latest defense, ““I didn’t lie, I swear, I was just incompetent” It’s kind of sad when those are your choices.
Everybody’s a Freak
I don’t know how people on the other side of our issue can look at videos, and press accounts like this, and then come to the conclusion that gun rights advocates are weirdos and lunatics.
I don’t really bat an eye when I’m at a gun event and I see camo. It’s kind of like the tie-dye of our side. But the other side accuses us of all manner of freakiness and extremism. I’m trying to think of what most of our folks would think if someone showed up to a political event in a dress military uniform from the SS or, if they wanted to be more stylish, an Italian military dress uniform from the Fascist era? I’m pretty sure most of us would elbow each other, and mutter, “Who the hell is that weirdo?” He would be made to feel unwelcome.
Yeah, sorry folks, no one gets a free ticket out of the freak show. But if I had to choose between having Ted Nugent on my side, or this guy, I’ll take Nugent any day of the week.
Training in Wisconsin
It’s now up to the Attorney General to prescribe regulations in regards to how much training is necessary to be able to get a concealed handgun license. And now the range operators come out to try to get their slice of the pie:
At Fletcher Arms in Waukesha owner Sean Eaton says the more gun safety training the better.
“Wisconsin’s never had concealed carry, so anyone who is not a police officer has never had concealed carry,” Eaton said.
It’s a good rule that if you’re an FFL, you should never speak to the media. I agree that the more training the better, saw a general rule, but the question is how much should be mandated. Shooting is a skill, much like playing the piano. You can’t learn to play the piano well with 8, or even 180 hours of training, and neither can you become an expert with a gun. This is true of cops as well as citizens. What we want is for people to understand the law, and have enough basic knowledge to get them started on a safe path toward being a competent shooter on their own. That can be successfully taught in a couple of hours. Mandating further training would have no effective purpose other than frustrating people out of getting permits.
Personally, I think a better way to do it, rather than training, is to quiz people on the law in regards to deadly force, and then a live shooting test. As long as the standards are reasonable, and in line with the same qualifier police have to take (which is easy, BTW), I don’t see why this wouldn’t be an acceptable substitute for a training regimen. That way the requirement is competence, rather than some arbitrary number of hours, or mandating courses that are expensive. This way, you only have to pay someone to administer the shooting test. The legal quiz could easily be done online.