2012 – Page 55 – Shall Not Be Questioned

The DNC Opens

With GOP theater having concluded, Democratic theater is now in full swing. The first part of the convention, the part not widely aired, was a lot of shouting, and a lot of the politics of gender and race. Bitter was getting quite irritated with the gender politics, which she said weren’t even laid on as thick at the women’s college she went to. The first part was pure base rallying, focusing on Obamacare and, if you’re a woman, about how the evil Republicans want to control, or otherwise do bad things to your girly parts. They will defend your vagina!

The entire tone of the convention changed for the prime time speeches. I thought Michelle Obama was every bit Ann Romney’s equal, when it came to making the case for her husband as a person. Both Michelle and Ann are pretty good at delivering political speeches, which makes one surmise if they don’t have some political talent on their own. I suppose you have to in order to be First Lady these days. Speaking of politics, when you’re getting up and giving a speech during a prime time speaking slot at a Party national convention, you don’t get to say “I’m really not a political person.” It doesn’t pass the smell test.

Another Case of Brady Deceit

The Brady folks often can’t talk about this issue without spinning a tale. I think what often surprises me is that sometimes the data can make a case for them, even without the tale. It’s like they are so strongly committed to the deception, that they can’t break their mental mindset. Such is the case with this latest article, guest written by Griffin Dix, Ph.D, talking about how wonderful California’s gun laws are. A model for the nation:

Before 1997 Californiaâ€™s firearm mortality rate was consistently higher than that of the rest of the nation. But as Californiaâ€™s gun laws took effect the stateâ€™s gun death rate dropped lower. Of course many factors besides gun laws affect firearm mortality rates.

There’s that sleight of hand again, discussing firearms mortality rates, of which the vast majority of which will be suicides. But if you look at overall violent crime and murder, from the data appearing at this source here, and here, you can see that California still has a violent crime rate significantly higher than the nation as a whole, despite the fact that the vast majority of the rest of the population lives under what Brady would classify as unacceptably weak gun laws.

Violent Crime in California v. US

Murder in California vs. US

Perhaps it is a desire on the part of the Bradys to make gun control look more miraculous. Maybe they feel it doesn’t make for so compelling a case to suggest that California’s murder and violent crime rates are indeed dropping faster than the rest of the nation, without controlling for other factors. Or perhaps they recognize the number of potential donors impacted by suicides is larger, and wish to cultivate that potential donor pool more than victims of criminal activity?

UPDATE: I used a stacked graph by mistake, so the numbers were shifted. It is corrected now.

Taking it on the Chin

I’ve shot an AR-15 pistol with a cheek weld on the buffer tube, and I didn’t find it recoiled that heavily, so I don’t think this would be as uncomfortable as it looks.Â As to whether it can get around the NFA requirement, as Uncle discusses, I wouldn’t care to wager. ATF has ruled that anything that makes it “designed” to be shot by two hands is an “Any Other Weapon” (AOW), not a pistol, so foregrips on pistols make it a Title II firearm, but hand guards are fine. The risk here, as I see it, is that it would be easy for ATF to suggest that the chin stock makes the firearm such that it’s no longer “designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand.,” which is the legal definition of a pistol. If something isn’t a rifle, shotgun, pistol, revolver, or a machine gun, it’s an AOW. It could go either way, in regards to whether it’s an AOW. The issue is “designed.” You can cheek weld a buffer tube, because the buffer tube isn’t “designed” into the gun for that purpose. But ATF also allows handguards over the barrel of a pistol, such as this. So who knows? And let’s not even get into how a pistol grip shotgun is neither a pistol, nor a shotgun, under federal law, but also can’t be an AOW.

Once you realize how much ambiguity there is in the federal statutes regulating firearms, the idea of a hostile administration who is hell bent to screw us, because, you know, he doesn’t ever have to face voters again, should scare the hell out of you.

Comparing Platforms

Jacob compares the Democratic platform to the Republican platform, when it comes to guns. I pretty much agree with Jacob when it comes to the meaning of party platforms, but it’s interesting that the Democrats felt the need to blow some sunshine up the posteriors of our opponents. As SayUncle notes, to their request for an open an honest discussion about firearms, “Â We had that already and the gun control side lost.”

The Gun Went off “Accidentally”

This is apparently what people in the UK are saying when they find themselves having to shoot home invaders. An admission, apparently, that the shot was deliberate, would be an immediate invitation to be charged with murder. But apparently that doesn’t necessarily apply if you’re a copper.

Revisiting the Treaty Power?

Ilya Somin notes that Bond v. United States could possibly be going back to the Supreme Court, with a question that raises the Treaty Power of the United States. The treaty power is currently interpreted by the Courts to be an independent power that can be separately exercised from Congresses other enumerated powers, so the normal federalism limits don’t apply when it comes to a treaty. No treaty can stomp on the Bill of Rights, but beyond that the treaty power is fairly unlimited. I agree with Prof. Somin that this presents a problem:

I think the power to make treaties is best understood as a power allowing the federal government to make commitments regarding the use of its other enumerated powers, not a power that allows the federal government to legislate on whatever subjects it wants, so long as the issue is covered by a treaty. Among other things, the latter would enable the federal government to circumvent limits on the scope of its power by paying off a foreign power (e.g. â€“ a weak client state dependent on US aid) to sign a treaty covering the subject.

I’d love to see the Supreme Court revisit this topic, and hold the treaty power can only be exercised within the scope of Congress’ other enumerated powers, but this would call a number of treaties into question, including those that affect hunting. I tend to think the Court will be cautious about a ruling that would affect current treaties.

The landmark ruling that lead to Congress’ treaty power being interpreted this way was Missouri v. Holland, which upheld the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Since then the Courts have tended to limit this power. Of course, Missouri v. Holland was decided in 1920, when the scope of the federal governments enumerated powers were considerably more constricted, so today it would probably be possible to argue that the 1918 treaty is a legitimate exercise of Congress’ enumerated powers, and is therefore still constitutional, even if the Court decides to further limit the treaty power.

War on Women

From Jim Geraghty’s Morning Jolt:

Massachusetts Democratic-party Chairman John Walsh, discussing GOP Sen. Scott Brown at a breakfastÂ meeting Monday: â€œHeâ€™s a regular guy. I mean, he spent a couple million dollars folding towels on TV to prove heâ€™s an honorary girl. We appreciate that.â€ This was a reference to a television ad of Brownâ€™s, in which he is seen folding laundry.

Finally, an actual example of the war on women!

Whether Scott Brown wins or loses, it’s been an absolute delight watching the Massachusetts Democratic Party become completely unhinged over having to win back a seat that they rightfully think belongs to them, and not being able to quite seal the deal with the people of Massachusetts.

Interpol to Establish Arms Tracing System?

ATF already maintains a database of lost and stolen firearms, so that if one is traced, they can identify the rightful owner. Now it seems Interpol will be establishing a database of its own:

Modeled after INTERPOL’s Stolen and Lost Travel Document System which today contains more than 33 million entries, iARMS will feature a hit alarm to the country of report when a match is detected. Replacing INTERPOL’s existing firearms tracing system, it will redirect users to trace firearms not found in the database, thereby linking the two processes of searching a database of reported lost, stolen, smuggled and trafficked firearms with firearms tracing. It will also enable states to capture their own statistics for crime-trend analysis and to assist them in meeting reporting requirements. iARMS will be piloted to 20 countries in September.

Think you’ll ever see your firearm again if Interpol traces it? Think your gun will come out of the database, if it is returned? I think the Arms Trade Treaty is practically guaranteed to expand in scope if it’s brought into being.

What Happens When a Coastal Elite Visits America

It’s always funny when they find America, which you know, has a lower violent crime rate than California, and doesn’t see guns as some kind of demonic curse in sorry need of an exorcism:

He went on to say I could buy as many of them as I wanted and walk out with my arsenal today. “These guns have helped our industry tremendously,” he said. “They’ve attracted a whole new generation…. Is there one you want to try?” He brought down a Colt AR15-A3 tactical carbine, slammed in an empty magazine, and handed it to me. It felt disappointingly fake, an awesome water pistol, perhaps, or a Halloween prop. I asked if I would need to tell him why I wanted to buy a gun like that or what I intended to do with it. He squinted and smiled and appeared politely speechless. “Would you have to do what, now?” he asked.

I’m not big on slamming magazines into a gun in a shop for effect, I’ll be honest.

“I have six handgunsâ€”bought five of them here,” an old man said to me. I was waiting for Ron, who’d gone to the back room to find a gun he thought I might like. “I have five rifles, got all of them here,” the man said. “I spend most of my time reloading shells. All my friends are dead.” He had thin white hair and a long, sagging face dotted with age spots. “Do you know what the biggest problem with divorce is? It’s the bedroom. And a lot of it’s the man’s fault. Like a damn rabbit, on and off.”

It felt like we should have had rocking chairs, perhaps a set of checkers between us. This was one of the things I liked most about Sprague’s: the general-store feel. Groups would form, strangers becoming neighbors, sharing stories. “I lost my wife in November,” the man said. “Sixty years. Now my kids keep trying to get me to go live with them in California. My doctor said, ‘What’s your lifestyle?’ I told him guns. He said, ‘Stay in Yuma.’ “

I guess it’s a bit late for Markey’s Law Monday, but it’s still Monday out on the west coast. You have to love it when they are subtle about suggesting interest in guns is a sexual dysfunction.

“I just got that same Smith for my kid,” he said.

I looked at him. He appeared far too young to have a grown son.

“Wait, how old is your kid?” I asked.

“Six,” he said.

Yeah, buying a .22 for a kid. The horror.

Richard Sprague, the owner of Sprague’s Sports, is a slender man in his fifties with a tapered face, coarse graying hair, and an easy smile. Other Arizona gun stores would not even entertain my request to visit and ask questions about selling guns and ammunition, but Richard without hesitation invited me to spend as much time as I wanted at Sprague’sâ€”behind the counter, in the back room, at the shooting range, anywhere I wished.

The other Arizona gun stores were smarter. I really wish gun shops would understand there is not much good that can come of speaking with reporters. I am definitely a fan of engagement, but there’s very little the media is going to report about several days in a gun shop that’s not going to end up being twisted like this horror. These people hate you. You don’t have to explain yourself. They are the barbarians, not you. If a reporter seems to try to want to understand you, the best defense is to walk away, because it’s probably a set-up. These people are not at all to be trusted.

The vampires among journalists will always feed to the greatest satisfaction off ordinary, good people, who honestly just want to talk and be understood. Don’t be tempted. They are out to get you. I think what bothers me the most is that this reporter is from Pennsylvania, which is still, last I checked, part of America when it comes to mostly respecting the 2nd Amendment. I grew up not 50 miles from where I live now, about 5 miles outside of Philadelphia, and I knew people who hunted, did target shooting, and carried guns for self-defense. Some of them I called family. It was not a novel or unusual concept for me. So I really have to wonder, if this reporter is from Pennsylvania, where exactly she’s from, because clearly she hasn’t seen much of her own state.

UPDATE: Someone pointed out the reporter was a woman, so the article has been updated accordingly.

Ikea Hacks

If there’s one fundamental constant in our household, it’s that I’m a cheap bastard. I don’t like spending money on things I need, so I can save money to buy things I don’t need. Unfortunately, “things I need” has been dominating the past year, with expensive house repairs, dental work, and car repairs rounding out the top places I’m spending money. I am disappointed to find yet another “things I need” knocking at the door and begging to have money spent on it.

I don’t think I’ve ever owned an actual desk. I do have anÂ Aeron chairÂ (which I highly recommend, if you have the cash or come across one) I acquired from the previous company’s liquidation, because I’d be too cheap to pay full price for something like that. But my desk has alwaysÂ consisted of a six foot folding table and a five foot folding table, arranged in an L configuration, showing here, though rarely this tidy:

I’ve gotten along OK with folding tables, but when you put drinks, electronics, gun parts, etc, on a surface that’s basically a laminated printout of wood backed with paper, and then glued onto particle board, the surface tends to go pretty fast. At some point, I turn the table around so the crappy parts are in the back, but about once every three years or so, it’s time for another folding table. Yesterday, I had a big piece of “laminate” (i.e. paper) come up, and extended my tape job another foot or so to patch it. I’ve looked at the polymer folding tables, and they feel flimsy to me. Cable channeling would also be more difficult without the steel supports. If you look at solid wood or high quality laminate folding tables, you’re now talking real money. So it is time for the madness to end. I looked online to find better solutions, and I’m struck by how much office furniture either sucks, or is expensive. I’ve always liked Ikea as a cheap, not quite sucky solution, but nothing they had was big enough for my desk space requirements. The trend today seems to be for smaller workspaces, which I would quickly have piled a foot high with crap. So Bitter helped me go through Pinterest and Ikea Hackers, and I found the perfect solution:

Perfect idea for solving my problem! I don’t much like the red, but it comes in black. The butcher block countertop they use, made of solid oak, is a little rich for me, but Ikea offers a much cheaper alternative in a solid Beech. They make it in lengths of 96 inches, which can be cut to size. It’ll work fine for making two desks I can arrange nicely in an L shape. I’d also pick up some storage space, since they also have drawer and cubby modules for this desk. I can stick the server that runs the blog in the cubby, alongside its UPS, if I don’t install the middle piece.

All this can be done for under 300 bucks. That may be double what I’d spend on a new pair of folding tables, but I think solid Beech is going to hold up a lot better than laminate, and if it gets rough, I can just plane it, sand it, and refinish it. If you have a look around that Ikea Hackers site, it’s pretty amazing what people are doing with some of their furniture.