2012 – Page 107 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Insurrectionism at Waging Nonviolence?

Given that the Communication Director for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Ladd Everitt, is a contributor at this site, don’t expect him to be condemning this bit of insurrectionist thinking any time soon:

I think itâ€™s no accident that the question of self-defense has been coming up in some circles in the Occupy movement at this time. Having the discussion reflects how many people are realizing that moving the 1 percent out of the driverâ€™s seat is a revolutionary mission. The person who doesnâ€™t feel fear at the prospect of revolution is out of touch with their feelings. Itâ€™s only natural at such a moment to wonder if there is some way to act boldly â€” and at the same time stay safe.

The author even notes the history of armed resistance to the Klan and other aspects of the civil rights movement that occurred; facts that make Ladd Everitt decidedly uncomfortable. To be clear I don’t view violence as a legitimate answer to the problem of the 1%, the 3% or whatever side it’s coming from, provided the mechanisms of our Republic still largely function. But the author is at least taking a serious look at a serious topic. When we do this, Ladd is all over us for our “insurrectionism” and violence rhetoric. It just goes to show his double standard, and the double standard of all our opponents.

Another Case of Our Opponents Standing up for Thuggery

Barron Barnett and Weer’d take a look at another example of our opponents mourning a criminal who was justifiably killed by the person he was attacking. This is an example of what Bitter and I have been calling the “every little snowflake is precious” syndrome. Barron comes up with several more examples of this philosophy.

We should always strive to avoid taking of human life if it can possibly be avoided, but sometimes an attacker leaves no other alternative. Sometimes not every snowflake is precious. Some little snowflakes turn into thugs and cold blooded killers. Sometimes that happens before they turn 18. If our opponents want to actually contribute something positive in this world, they would take a look at the underlying social conditions that make juveniles turn to armed robbery, rather than focusing on the tools of that profession, and the people who carry defensive arms to protect themselves against our opponents precious snowflakes.

A Case of American Blind Justice

A blind gun collector wins his guns back, in New Jersey.

NRA Endorsement of George Allen

Extrano’s alley questions George Allen’s stance on guns based on this bit over at On The Issues. On The Issues is out of date, incomplete, and often misleading, and it is in this case when it comes to Allen’s record on guns. It is true that Allen voted against the PLCAA, as we would have wanted him to, because it ended up with an assault weapons ban renewal attached to it. Some may recall back in 2004 an Amendment to PLCAA was brought up to renew the ban, and served the very important purpose of getting John Kerry on record as supporting renewal. Once that goal was achieved, the bill was killed. Eventually Allen did vote for final passage of the clean bill after the elections in 2005.

On the Issues mentioned that he does not have an absolutist view of gun ownership. I’m aware of very few politicians that do, and any candidate for Senate that was telling me he believed that is probably a liar. Allen’s record on guns has been quite good, as he’s been willing to introduce, sponsor and help move legislation, which isn’t all that common among Senators. I thought his political career was going to be over after the “Macaca” incident, but apparently he’s on a comeback.

I Always Love Headlines Like This

“Recent killings in NH renew debate about gun laws.” I think the only debate about gun laws is happening in the editorial board meetings at the Nashua Telegraph. But the media says it’s renewing the debate, so it must be so, right?

A Toast to Dr. Welch

With my first red wine now bottled, I can turn my attention to my next wine making endeavor. I made a few mistakes with my red which I will do my best not to repeat. My main complaint about the first red is that it was lifeless and watery. I racked into my brewing carboy for secondary, and topped off with water to fill the remaining headspace. Then I recalled that the standard winemaking carboy is six gallons, where as my brewing carboy is six and a half. I watered the wine down too much. That also affects how well the wine clarifies. It’s not that the wine is bad, it’s just that it’s not good. Hopefully with a little bottle conditioning, it’ll improve a bit.

What I’m going to try next is a white wine, made from reconstituted Welch’s 100% Niagara Grape Frozen Concentrate. After reading the history of Thomas Bramwell Welch, I decided I had to try this. Welch was the first person to get the idea of applying Dr. Pasteur’s microbe killing process to grape juice. There were many things to admire about Dr. Welch, being an abolitionist and active on the Underground Railroad. But he was also a world class busybody prohibitionist, and it is that particular history that has made me decide to turn some of Dr. Welch’s Unfermented Wine into a real McCoy. It would probably kill the old man to know the company that he founded, and bears his name, seems to be on relatively friendly terms with the home winemaking community, and willing to answer questions from home winemakers using the Welch’s product to make wine. But I suppose this day in age shouting, “Be gone sinner, and drinker of the demon spirits!” into the phone of people wanting to know the acid additions to their grape juice, or sulfite concentrations, wouldn’t go over too well among the juice buying public, never mind hobby winemakers.

What the body politic did to prohibitionists is a wonderful lesson for our cause. To the extent there even are prohibitionists these days, they are viewed as out of the mainstream and quacky. We almost have the opponents of gun rights there, provided we keep pushing. I’ll drink a toast to Dr. Welch, and his company, and hope in our current struggle, our opponents suffer the same political fate.

A Couple of #Winning Observations

Ever notice that the few publicly disclosed Hollywood NRA members have a disproportionate involvement in decently made historical and/or patriotic films? Funny how that seems to be true. We settled on NRA board member Tom Selleck’s Ike – Countdown to D-Day a couple of days ago. It also has NRA member Gerald McRaney.

This wasn’t the only recent NRA member entertainment we have enjoyed. We last caught McRaney in Jericho.

As we were surfing through movies to watch on Netflix last night, we stopped on Netflix’s “Most Popular” tab. The first show listed was NRA board member R. Lee Ermey’s Lock N’ Load. That’s called winning right there.

Controlling Bureaucrats Through the Purse Strings

The appropriations bill for the Department of Commerce and Department of Justice contain eleven provisions that should be helpful to gun owners. I’m particularly happy to see four provisions that will be finally made permanent. This appropriations game is one that NRA plays quite skillfully, but permanent provisions are always better than having to constantly fight for appropriations riders every year.

More Evidence Our Opponents are Delusional

CSGV has been hawking this story for the past week, and I guess they found an outlet lacking in enough credibility enough to bite. I am not normally one to defend NAGV, but if anyone thinks this graphic is a threat to the President, they are completely delusional. Besides, NAGR is not alone, as Miguel has found numerous instances of Google making violent threats against the President and other high-profile public figures.

If this is the juvenile accusations our opponents have stooped to, I feel pretty good about things. I saw some of the folks who follow CSGV mention that this notion of an Obama gun ban is just lunacy, but for once this is based on an actual issue, namely the re-importation of M1 Garand rifles. While the Administration has reluctantly allowed the importation of 86,000 M1 Garands from South Korea, it is still blocking the importation of some 600,000 M1 Carbines, becauseÂ â€œthey come with a magazine that can carry multiple rounds.”

Ordinarily, both the M1 Garand and M1 Carbine are considered Curious & Relics under federal law, and are unrestricted from importation, regardless of the “sporting purposes” requirement. But because the Department of Defense still exercises controls over re-importation of firearms sold or given as surplus to foreign governments, the Administration has chosen to ban these rifles from re-importation. So it is correct to suggest that this is a gun ban imposed by the Administration.

Carrying Large Amounts of Cash is Legal

But that doesn’t mean the cops won’t take it anyway, and make you prove it’s legit before they’ll give it back.Â Civil Asset Forfeiture is one of the biggest infringements to civil liberties that government engages in under the guise of the War on Drugs. It’s another issue I’m surprised doesn’t get more attention from politicians who want to appear to be good civil libertarians, though I know these days that kind of thing is out of fashion.

And it’s not like I believe the government can never seize money, but the presumption of innocence should mean the government can’t seize ill gotten gains until one’s guilt has been proven, and the property implicated, beyond a reasonable doubt. Under Civil Asset Forfeiture, since the property is being charged, there’s no presumption of innocence.