2013 – Page 106 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Fun Show Weekend

Bitter is off volunteering to work gun show on behalf of ILA, to get post cards together to go off to our Senators. I spent yesterday working the show with her, but she’s more of a talker than I am, and she’s much better at dealing with people. I usually let her work point, and I only deal with overflow when things get busy. This is a small antique gun show run in a local Shriner’s hall in Montgomery County, which means the clientele runs on the side of rich and old, and when you wander around and look at prices, you’ll see why. I went with her yesterday, but because of the size of the show, there wasn’t much for me to do, so I decided to stay home today and continue with the painting. The response for such as a small show was pretty good, however. Bitter just texted me this:

Just had an 18-year old girl eagerly sign the postcards and shoved two more in her dad’s hand saying “Sign these now.”

That’s someone who wants gun rights when she’s old enough to buy her own. There were very few young people there, which I would expect given the prices. We watched a few groups of young guys walk in, make one round, and walk out, apparently disappointed there were no ARs made prior to 1898, and no cases of .223 dug up from the Spanish-American War.Â One thing we definitely noted was that husbands who came with wives were the most enthusiastic people we talked to when it came to the current fight. We need to do even more to bring women in, because women will tend to get the family involved, and I think men who have the backing of the women at home tend to be the happy warriors.

One guy who stuck in my mind was an older gentleman, who came up, signed our cards, and thanked us for what we were doing. He said he was sorry for us, because of what we’d likely live to see. I got the impression his wife had passed on, and he ended the conversation with,Â “I’m not likely to be around much longer anyway. Let my door be the first one they come to.”Â In this issue you see a lot of chest beating, but I don’t get the impression this guy was engaging in that; he was dead serious. Given how close we came in New York to a confiscation bill, and given it’s still on the table in states like California, it begs the question to our opponents of how many bodies of guys just like this they are willing to stack up? Because that’s what it’s going to take. These people claim to be against gun violence, but yet they will be demanding other people engage in quite a lot of it on their behalf, to get at people who never would be violent people if left to pursue their own happiness.

Joe Biden Says We Can’t Have Tanks, WSJ Proves Him Wrong

In the same interview where he advised people to randomly shoot guns in the air and violate discharge ordinances, Joe Biden told everyone that citizens aren’t allowed have tanks under the law. We already know that’s not accurate, but the Wall Street Journal decided to have some fun with this topic and actually profile tank owners.

Tank brokersâ€”yes, there is such a thingâ€”estimate there are several hundred to 1,000 private tank owners in the U.S.

Not only is it legal to own tanks, there’s an entire market for them with brokers. Awesome. Why would anyone want a tank?

When their insurance agent inquired about their plans for the tank, the Neal brothers emailed back, “We are going to use it to take over the world.”

Says Ken Neal, 45: “A tank is cool.”

For anyone who think these two tank owners are an insurrectionist threat, their efforts toward world domination have only managed to extend to driving their 1966 British Chieftain over a rusty car in the desert. Another tank owner talks about the lifestyle challenges:

He says he has put about $280,000 into his Sherman so far and expects to spend as much as $75,000 more. “You get a tank, you end up with an ex-wife,” warns Mr. Miller, who has one of each.

If Sebastian bought a tank, I would never, ever leave him. I’d probably jump up and down and hug him at the news. The WSJ also highlights their value as investment pieces:

In 1993, a top-notch Sherman went for $75,000, according to the Illustrated Tank & AFV [Armored Fighting Vehicle] Buyer’s Guide. Now Dave Uhrig, a Chillicothe, Ohio, tank broker, is offering one for $387,000.

The good news is that they report that prices have recently dropped or flattened. So if you can’t find an AR at your local gun shop, you may be able to find a slightly discounted tank. They note that while tanks aren’t street legal, owners often get flexibility from authorities to take it to the gas station or drive it in parades.

I think the best part of the story is at the end. One of the tank owners reported that he took it out for a drive in his warehouse parking lot to play with a special propane setup he has to generate just the noise and muzzle flash for the machine gun on top. Needless to say, someone called the cops. The first officer asked if the owner knew why they were there. The second – well:

The second policeman, Jeremy Marshall, got out of his car and eyeballed Mr. Bauer’s tank. “Awesome,” he said.

And this is why we win. Because it is awesome. Go read the entire article because I didn’t cover nearly all of the good stuff. Plus, there’s a slideshow and video.

Gun Bloggers and the Congressional Record

I think Thirdpower may be the only gun blogger (who isn’t Hardy or Kopel) that has ended up in the Congressional Record. Josh Horwitz of the thoroughly extreme Coalition to Prevent ~~Gun Ownership~~ Gun Violence decided to include him in his testimony before the Senate. Josh must really be frightened by Thirdpower, and I can understand why, given howÂ intimidating he can be.Â That’s the face that launched a thousand threepers right there. He’s just itching to overthrow some legitimate democratic government, according to CSGV, when he’s not busy being a nerd.

Like Thirdpower, CSGV has attacked me in the past for extremism as well, as surely evidenced by my drone program, which might seem like just another nerdy hobby, considering my day job as a mild mannered IT professional. But such a hobby obviously has some kind of Dr. Evil, insurrectionist purpose. Clearly we must be stopped, and only CSGV is up to the task.

This is how utterly ridiculous Josh Horwitz and CSGV are. It’s amazing to me anyone takes them seriously enough to invite them to testify before the Senate. This would be like having me or Thirdpower testify before the Senate as credible representatives. By sniping at gun bloggers in serious testimony, Horwitz has elevated us to his level. Unfortunately, that level is quite a bit lower than I think many of us have aspirations for.

What the Media Really Thinks of Gun Owners

Locally, there’s a new group that has popped up to defend gun rights. The media is aghast, and they resent being reminded that 1 in 17 of voting age adults in the county have concealed carry permits – a number from before the rush on permits post-Aurora and Newtown.

â€œRegistration? Does it include the criminals?â€ [a local pro-gun State Rep.] asked, repeating a very tired argument. He went on, concluding: â€œFirearms protect children, wives and husbands.â€

What about the dog? Should we shoot people who threaten the family pet?

Yes, the paper just called the argument that we should punish criminals “tiring” before comparing the value of the lives of your spouse and children to that of a dog. Let that sink in. They think the concept of defending the lives of your children is as worthless as defending a house cat. Why? Because you own guns.

But, the unsigned editorial doesn’t stop there. No, they have to make gun owners out to be dangerous creatures.

Said one of the â€œconcerned gun ownersâ€ of possible government intervention, â€œThey have a hunger to control us â€” unless we stop them.â€

God help us.

Clearly, divine intervention is needed. Because gun owners couldn’t possibly be talking about stopping power-hungry politicians through civic engagement, public education efforts, citizen lobbying, and election volunteer activities.

This doesn’t even get into their policy discussion. They promote Obama’s gun ban agenda as “modest,” and then they try to claim that full gun registration isn’t really controversial at all. They think that a ban on firearms commonly owned and used by thousands of gun owners in the region is just not big deal and shouldn’t be challenged. They do make clear that we’re “entitled” to have opinions, but they are outraged that gun owners dare organize to express them.

Hey, I Made Morning Jolt!

I guess I have now officially arrived. I opened up Jim Gerahty’s daily newsletter to find a Tweet of mine from just after midnight quoted:

Nothing to worry about! I grabbed my double barrel shotgun & blasted #sequester through the door, just like the VP said #BadAdviceFromBiden

— Sebastian (@SebastianSNBQ) March 1, 2013

Good Blogging Advice

Caleb talks about how to deal with disagreement and people who meet who you end up loathing. I’ve run into very few people in this medium I genuinely dislike, and I mostly just ignore those people. I don’t get mad, I don’t put them on a blacklist, or otherwise bother. Hell, I didn’t even have a blacklist until this guy came along. I’ve never found it to be productive to harp on a disagreement until it becomes the stereotypical dead horse you just can’t stop flogging.

Sure there’ve been folks I’ve had disagreements with over the years, but that’s par for the course in a medium like this one. Additionally, people will tend to say things on the Internets that they would never say in a real life discussion, and you have to be mindful of that, and not hold it against people if and when you run across them in meatspace. Years ago when I playedÂ MMORPGsÂ that was the rule; what happens on the game stays on the game.Â When you build an audience, you have more people sniping at you, and you get used to that. You have to have thick skin sometimes, and not take it personally. If you stand for something, you will make enemies, but not standing for anything is a worse, in my opinion.

New York Rally in Pictures

Greg Ball speaks:

More here from The Blaze.Â Here’s a slideshow. I particularly like this one:

If we had idiot control, forming a government would be difficult. So it’s hard to see the downside. Do our opponents still want to continue to operate under the delusion they are fighting the evil gun industry and some faceless “gun lobby” rather than millions of their fellow Americans? Do they still want to suggest we’re all the stereotype of the OFWG? Want to continue to pretend all this is manufactured when most of these people are carrying homemade signs?

If yes, I understand. The illusion is important to you. Because the alternative is that you want to take something very important away from millions of people who care deeply and passionately about it, and that, well, kind of makes you a monster, doesn’t it?

Bloomberg’s Next Target

Over at VSSA, there’s speculation that Bloomberg’s next spending target may be Virginia. It is noted that the off-year gubernatorial election in a purple state would certainly make a nice pick-up for Bloomberg’s anti-gun crusade. With the the Democrat calling for handgun rationing and semi-auto bans, it be quite the trophy.

His two big federal wins haven’t been real “wins” in many ways. His win in Pennsylvania for the Attorney General is the closest thing he has to making a real impact, and even that race was still largely about a scandal involving child rape.

VSSA asks a good question about the dedication of gun owners in these target areas:

There has been a reawakinging of the grassroots. The question is, will it last long enough to put Bloomberg in his place. Virginia in 2013 could be the first test.

Maryland Senate Passes Draconian Gun Ban

Apparently Martin O’Malley doesn’t want to be President either. They mention they expect the House to act quickly. We should not make this easy for them. The bill makes some people who seek some voluntary treatments subject to a prohibition on guns, which I would call the “You can just suffer through depression without getting help, evil gun owners.” Additionally, you do get the draconian magazine ban, and the assault weapons ban, which has been the standard ban for most modern semi-automatic firearms.

This is a sad day, but the Democrats will have their revenge on us for daring to oppose them. Any state where the Democrats are in charge we are in trouble. Remember this come election time. It is time to get active in the electoral process and punish these people.

UPDATE: Matt in the Comments:

Not over yet. Â Has to pass the House and people are mobilizing. Â The rally on the 6th was the largest in State history. Â So the politicians are betting we will not punish them for their hubris and ignoring their constituents.

Be there in Annapolis on the 1st and 6th!

Bloomberg Mayor in Hot Water Over Personal Security Spending

The Pittsburgh mayor who has signed letters to Congress opposing concealed carry for mere citizens has been spending big taxpayer bucks to pay police officers to escort him everywhere – including nightclubs where he’s busy making out with young women.

A local report shows that Luke Ravenstahl has been spending an average of more than $110k a year in tax dollars for the last three years to pay just the overtime costs of multiple police officers to escort him and keep him safe from whatever threats a mayor faces. The video shows a photo taken of the mayor and his taxpayer-funded security hanging out at a bar with a young chick on his lap wrapped around him while he was still legally married. (According to reports, he was separated from his wife at the time, but had told the press that he had no intention of actually divorcing her. Publicly screwing around her, apparently, but not divorcing her. She filed sometime after the photo was taken.)

As this news comes to light, political reporters note that this MAIG mayor is no longer attending political events and is expected to announce that he will either end his re-election campaign or possibly even resign over this and other police-related scandals that have involved his administration.

I would say that this sounds like a big improvement for the people of Pittsburgh. It’s bad enough to have a mayor who uses your public resources to go party and screw around on his wife. But to have that mayor saying you need to fund his personal security to those parties while you shouldn’t have the right to carry and defend yourself, well, that’s just insult to injury.