June 2013 – Page 10 – Shall Not Be Questioned

What Was the Real Motivation Behind the Bloomberg Ricin Letters?

I found it interesting that the couple at the center of investigation into the ricin letters were blaming each other. The wife called authorities and reported it was her husband, but the husband told authorities who showed up that she set him up to take the fall.

Interestingly, it appears as though investigators believe him since they just arrested his wife.

I’m curious if she’s off her rocker and then figured she’d try to blame her husband for the letters once she realized they would really investigate or if the entire plot was designed to set her husband up for massive legal troubles. If it’s the latter, then it would be interesting to know why she decided to make the issue all about guns and gun control–whether she doesn’t like gun owners or if that was just picked out as the headline of the day.

I don’t believe there’s nearly enough issue to actually assign an obvious political motivation, so don’t assume it’s part of some larger plot. It seems the only thing we know is that there’s a woman who is either nuts and wants her husband to pay the consequences for for it, or there’s a woman who wants her husband to suffer and will resort to insane tactics rather than dealing with it like an adult.

Vintage Firearms Teaching Aids

All the talk this week about firearms instruction and my own random love of pretty much all things vintage reading mean that I find myself wanting to share some of these vintage firearms books.

All pictures link to the original sales listing in case you decide you’re interested. Should you end up purchasing one of these old school paper books, there’s always the copper musket bookmark to keep your place when you need to take a break from reading to hit the range.

For what it’s worth, we get nothing from any sales generated from these links. I just honestly think some of this stuff is pretty cool. Thankfully, the internet gives me pause to avoid going nuts, but I would probably be impulse buying these books if I came across them in a thrift store or antique book store.

This, 1000x This!

Tam’s reaction to the dodge that NSA domestic snooping is just peachy because Bush did it too:

This isÂ exactlyÂ the kind of crap that had civil libertarians so disgusted with the previous administration that they decided to give Team Donk a chance, and look what they got in exchange: A bad punchline of an Executive branch. “They told me if I voted for McCain that secret intel organizations would Hoover up all the phone records of every American, and they were right!” Har-de-har-har. It was funny the first thirty-seven times.

And what’s the Mainstream Media doing? Hiding smoking guns like a lovestruck teenager for her gangster boyfriend. If you guys were manning the bridge in ’73, you’d be doing special investigative reports on why security guards should mind their own business when they see a taped door lock. It could be taped for national security reasons! And George Bush taped locks, too!

It always annoys me greatly when people bring up the “Bush did it!” excuse, like that’s some kind of “Get out of Jail Free” card they can play — like everyone else is the same kind of partisan hack as people who assert this defense seem to be. Well, you know, I thought Bush was an asshole too, so what’s your point? In fact, given Bush’s approval ratings at the end of his second term, I’m fairly certain I’m not alone in this sentiment.

A New New Jersey Senator

Gabby Giffords asked Chris Christie for an anti-gun successor to Lautenberg. What we get isÂ NJ’s current sitting AG. I don’t really know his record on guns, or even if he has one, but to be honest I don’t consider it to be remarkably important, because he could be the Carrie Nation of guns and it wouldn’t change much. Even if he voted with us 100% of the time, he’s not going to run in the special election. He’s a placeholder.

Being from New Jersey, I would not expect much in the way of pro-gun votes from him, if he gets to take any at all. I think even if he has some pro-gun votes in him, he’d stillÂ likely be a vote for Manchin-Toomey. But so was Lautenberg. It doesn’t get them anywhere. If he votes against any anti-gun bill or amendment, it will just be pure bonus as far as I’m concerned.

Thursday Mini News Links

Links probably has a much better connotation than dump, which is something most of us usually do in the morning. Gun news is a little dry lately, but I’m still building up some stories in the tabs where I don’t really have much to add other than a link.

Picking a competition holster. I can’t speak for competition, but my regular carry holster for my Glock 19 is a Comp-Tac IWB Infidel holster, and I can’t say enough good thing about it. It basically stopped my quest for the better carry holster.

An interview with an anti-gun person at what looks to me to be the rally on Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Remember, no one wants to take your guns. This guy even says banning nails is “something to think about.”

An effective ban on all new handguns in California. I’d say they just make the lawsuits that much easier, but I’ve become more skeptical the courts can do a whole lot more for the Second Amendment. We’ve honestly lost too many elections.

To win Millennials, the GOP needs to embrace its inner libertarian.

Incredible 1000 yard shot with a .50BMG Barrett, offhand. I’d have a hard time even holding it in position, let alone being steady enough to hit something.

The gun control debate continues in Massachusetts. I didn’t think it had ever ended. Actually, Massachusetts has been pretty quiet post Newtown. Almost too quiet.

Support Your Local Gunfighter turns 8. Not many blogs make it to 8!

Bloomberg’s Bucks Continue Flowing

Bloomberg wants the best gun control money can buy. Now he’s crapping all over Oregon trying to keep a bill banning private transfers in the Beaver State alive and well.Â Bloomberg is also dumping another $400,000 bucks against Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire, andÂ funding a 100-day bus tour for MAIG. He continues to pour money into running campaign ads for Mark Pryor in Arkansas by letting everyone know he’s a pro-gun Democrat.

But all kidding aside, Bloomberg’s money can do serious harm. Politicians will fear what Bloomberg’s money can buy. Money in politics is so important, it’s going to take millions of us just to counter what Bloomberg can put into a race.Â Traditionally gun owners are much better at negative reinforcement than positive reinforcement, in other words, we’re better at voting those who cross us out of office than working to help keep people who vote with us in office. If people want to understand why we can’t, for instance, get the Hughes Amendment repealed, this is why. If you’re only good on defense, you convince people to play defense for you, but convincing them to go on the offense gets harder. Also, if you can’t defend the people who vote with you, you’ll run out of friends in a legislature quickly.

In 2014, destroying Bloomberg has to be a top priority, and that means every race he dumps money into, he loses. That means politicians like Ayotte are going to need our boots on the ground to counter his money. If Bloomberg can show his money can buy elections, the pendulum on this issue is going to swing, and swing hard. Our biggest asset is that everyone generally thinks Bloomberg is a rich asshole, but rich assholes can buy elections. But money isn’t any substitute for the hard mechanics of coalition building, community organizing, and getting people out to the polls on election day. If that weren’t the case, Mitt Romney would be President right now.

When Would You Walk Away?

Sean decided to take down his post on his shooting class, but Tam brings up the interesting topic of walking away. Just when would you do it? I tend to think I wouldn’t walk away from a class I drove a long way for, and paid for, unless the violations were pretty blatantly unsafe, more important, jeopardized myÂ safety. I’d probably be more tolerant of minor stupidity that jeopardized the instructor. I’d be tempted to stick around just to see how much other blog fodder I can get out of the class. But to everything there are limits. I definitely wouldn’t agree to draw a gun, even one I had verified is unloaded, with someone downrange. But a gun with the slide locked back and no magazine in it? I definitely wouldn’t appreciate an instructor who was waving it around like a squirt gun, but I probably wouldn’t have it in me to have a cow over it. I was also surprised that people believed blue guns should be treated like regular guns. I thought the purpose of a blue gun was so you could do things with it you wouldn’t want to do with real firearms? When would you leave a class over safety concerns? Do you have to follow the 4 rules with blue guns? What’s your opinion.

Anti-Gun PA Activists Demand Gun Control

Anti-gun folks gathered at the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg to demand gun control, in what looks to be a Bloomberg branded event.

Those at the gun violence prevention rally â€“ including representatives from Mayors Against Illegal Guns, CeaseFirePA, Mothers in Charge and others â€“ are supporting three bills in particular:

Â House Bill 1010: Introduced by Santarsiero in March, this bill would amend the stateâ€™s current background checks policy to include long guns like assault rifles and shotguns.

Â House Bill 1479: Introduced by State Rep. Kevin Boyle, D-Philadelphia, on Monday, this bill would prohibit large capacity magazines.

Â House Bill 1515: Introduced Wednesday by State Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Montgomery, this bill would require individuals report when their firearms are lost or stolen.

Boyleâ€™s limit on high-capacity magazines bill, perhaps the boldest of the three measures, is about â€œprotecting human life,â€ he said.

These are likely going to be the first bills we’re going to be facing if the power structure in the PA legislature switches from R to D. It doesn’t look like much of a crowd, to be honest, when you compare it to the crowd the pro-2A community turned out in April without our state being under any serious threat.

Off Google Reader

Last night I finally made the transition away from Google Reader, given that I don’t have much more time before it disappears entirely. I decided to set up my own instance of Tiny Tiny RSSÂ to act as a substitute, and so far it seems to work pretty well. I also took the chance to remove some old blogs that had been long abandoned, and added a few new ones. We’ll see how well things go with this. Given Google’s penchant for killing products, I may try to make myself entirely Google free.

Obama’s Gun Numbers

They continue to decline. A Rasmussen poll released yesterday shows that only 37% of voters give him positive reviews, while 46% give him a poor rating. Also, the poll shows Republicans have the edge over Democrats when it comes to trust on the gun issue. But I thought gun control was popular?