The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …
One of the disks on our server is acting up and will have to be swapped out at some point. I do keep both onsite and offsite backups, so there is no real danger. But if you notice the blog being slow, it’s because we’re having intermittent disk problems on the mirrored pair. Once I have some time, I’ll go deal with it.
UPDATE: I have swapped out the old drive and put in a new one. The mirrored pair is rebuilding.
From the polling firm McClatchy:
Nearly 65 percent say the 2005 law — which allows people who believe they are in grave danger to use deadly force to defend themselves
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The 2005 law — which eliminates the so-called “duty to retreat†during a confrontation in a public place — remains popular in Florida, with only 18 percent saying it should be repealed.
We documented here that King Bloomberg is no fan of American Constitutional liberties, since they get in the way of his being able to run his kingdom as he sees fit. Now he’s suggesting that the New York Civil Liberties Union is as bad as the NRA:
One group views the Second Amendment in absolutist terms; the other group views the Fourth Amendment in absolutist terms. Both groups, I think, are dangerously wrong on the Constitution,†he added. “The right to bear arms and the right to privacy do not trump the right of citizens to walk down their own street, or walk down their own hallway, without getting blown away.
I must have missed that part in my pocket constitution, where there’s a constitutional right to be absolutely free of crime. The Bill of Rights absolutely trumps rights that King Bloomberg makes up. Whether he likes it or not, New York is still part of the United States, and we will be soon teaching him that lesson in federal court.
Heritage is really doing an excellent job of covering the proceedings, without a lot of hysteria. He speaks of potential dangers in the treaty, some of which I share:
Second, most major U.S. arms manufacturers have an international financing, insurance, and parts and components chain. The ATT could become a means for foreign countries to pressure U.S. firms to exit the market, reducing the ability of Americans to make effective use of their firearms rights.
[…]
Just because the ATT is not a “gun grab†treaty does not mean it raises no domestic concerns: “Gun grabs†are less plausible than “death by a thousand cuts.â€
Go read the whole thing. Extrano’s alley is pointing out that Graham and McCain are signaling weakness, and might need some encouragement. I suspect they just want to have specifics to base any opposition on, and we do not yet have a draft, but a friendly reminder to the Senators would probably help if you are one of their respective constituents.
Three men were murdered in Springfield Gardens Saturday morning in a drive-by shooting with an AK-47 assault rifle. At least 63 shots were fired, and questions are still looming over the incident, including why such a serious weapon was on the streets. The submachine gun was developed in Russia to be used as a military weapon. The 11-pound weapon can fire 600 rounds per minute, or 10 rounds per second.
The ignorance — it burns!
The Assault Weapons Ban, enacted by Bill Clinton during his presidency in 1994, banned automatic and some semiautomatic guns, including AK-47s.
This reporter has clearly been living in a hole when it comes to the gun issue, but yet is writing about it. Unfortunately for us, that hole is New York City. For those who think New Yorkers are these world sophisticated people, no. You will struggle to find people more provincial than you will find in New York City. Many people who live there have hardly ever left.
I have to admit, I’d be pretty stoked if Romney picked Condi. But it’s not going to happen. If Mitt nominates a pro-choice, pro-gay-marriage, pro-gun candidate, I’ll eat my hat. Mitt has enough troubles with the SoCos, given that he used to be pro-choice, and once engaged in platitudes about gay rights when he was Governor of Massachusetts. They’ll string him up if it’s Condi.
The ATF has issued a response to the public comments it received on their original 2011 guidance on the importability of shotguns. Their response is best summed up thusly:
The folks at Knife Rights have managed to get a bill introduced. The bill would also remove automatic knives from Pennsylvania’s list of prohibited offensive weapons. Knife preemption is something we badly need in Pennsylvania, especially for people who regularly travel into Philadelphia. I welcome this progress, even if it’s going to be a long road ahead to even get this bill a hearing.
The Arms Trade Treaty should not in any way handicap the legitimate right of self-defense. Acting together, we can strengthen international peace and security and the rule of law by requiring universal establishment of responsible national standards for the arms trade.
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Moreover, we must acknowledge and respect that this negotiation is not an attempt to intrude, either in principle or process, into states’ internal activities, laws, or practices concerning the domestic possession, use, or movement of arms. Rather, this treaty will regulate only the international arms trade. Any attempt to include provisions in the treaty that would interfere with each state’s sovereign control over the domestic use or movement of arms is clearly outside the scope of our mandate.
And interesting question will be, if the treaty draft does indeed come out to not affect civilian arms, and Obama gives the treaty his endorsement, how does that affect this as an election issue? The other issue is that once the treaty is established, the anti-gun NGOs will be pushing to expand the scope of the treaty.
Black women. The tears of our opponents are sweet and satisfying.