According to a new CNN poll, at least 65% of Americans are part of the extremist minority that folks like Bryan Miller and The Brady Campaign say define people who believe they have a right to own a gun.
Author: Sebastian
New Jersey Bills Passed out of Committee
I guess it’s not surprising, but the three bills passed out of the New Jersey senate committee today, and are on their way to a vote on the floor. Interestingly, about 1/4 of the cars in the lot at the very crowded Valley Forge Gun Show had Jersey tags. There is a gun culture in New Jersey. There aren’t many anti-gun people, really. There’s no reason New Jersey shouldn’t be in play for the pro-gun side. It’s really disappointing.
UPDATE: Looks like the floor vote will be January 3rd. Call your senators, New Jersey folks!
It’s good to see I’m not the only …
… “apologist” for the NRA out there. I guess they weren’t late with the wheelbarrow this month.
Firerams on Public Land
Looks like Senator Crapo has decided to put some pressure on Interior to change their no guns policy.
NRA initiated and worked closely with Senator Crapo on this letter and appreciate his bipartisan effort to get 47 Senators to sign a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne requesting a change in policy allowing state law to govern the carrying and transportation of firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges, as in the case of national forests and BLM lands. We have been working for nearly five years to change this policy and applaud the strong Senate support for this policy change expressed in this letter.
Good! It’s a stupid policy anyway. Hopefully Interior will see the light.
Extraordinary Lethality
Romney wants to ban them. It’ll make it very interesting to try to shoot clay birds without my 12 gauge. A shotgun is probably the most lethal firearm you can wield. I would really like to hear the Governor’s position on this issue.  Can I keep my trap gun?
Potty Mouth Gets Off
A woman in Scranton who was arrested for swearing loudly at her toilet when it backed up has been let go:
However, District Judge Terrence Gallagher earlier this week dismissed the charge on the grounds that while Herb’s language “may be considered by some to be offensive, vulgar and imprudent”, it is “protected speech pursuant to the First Amendment”.
It’s a disgrace that it even got to the point where a judge had to make that ruling.
Rest in Peace
He commented on here more than a few times. My thoughts go out to his family. It seems this happens more on the blogosphere than other online communities I’ve taken part in over the years. It’s a shame. The wonderful thing about the internet is, you’re immortal; it forgets nothing.
Quote of the Day
Just as the President said, he would have, he would have signed [the assault weapons ban] if it came to his desk, and so would have I.- Presidential Hopeful Mitt Romney on Meet the Press 12/16/2007
I will not vote for Mitt Romney under any circumstance. If the choice is between Mitt and Hillary, I stay home. We must defeat Mitt in the Primary. It’s an imperative. Scroll down on this post to the part titled “On Gun Control.” Mitt was singing a different tune in October. I’m guessing these latest shootings have made him think that it’s better for him to support a new assault weapons ban.
Folks, this guy has to be stopped. He’s truly a weasel and no friend of honest gun owners. He will turn on us in a minute if the polls tell him he should. I urge everyone to get behind a real friend like Fred Thompson or Ron Paul.
UPDATE: He’s also bragging about an NRA endorsement he never received.
UPDATE: Bruce has more.
Christmas Lights
Some people seem to have way too much time on their hands for Christmas decorations. There tastefully decorating your house for the holidays, and then there’s going way way overboard. Basic rule of thumb: if PECO is having to pull a few extra control rods out of the reactor in order to keep your house lit for the holidays, you’re probably going overboard.
Another thing that really creeps me out are those giant inflatable Christmas characters. In my neighborhood we have a Homer Simpson, several giant sized Frosty the Snowmen, a Santa Spongebob, and if that wasn’t going far enough, there’s the new ones that blow snow all around inside them. Every time I see one of those it makes me upset that live grenades are illegal. Not to be outdone by the life size snow globes, the inflatable decoration industry has been making their inflatables even larger. If Frosty gets any bigger, I’m going to start panicking that the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man has finally come to destroy my neighborhood.
When it comes to Christmas deocration, I’m definitely of the KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid). Less time decorating means more time at the range, so you can stay sharp for the day inflatable Christmas decorations come alive and try to kill us all.
Copycat Killers
Dave Kopel has an editorial in the Rocky Mountain News this week which echoes some of the sentiments I talked about in this post, back before the shooting in Colorado. Dave Hardy points to Loren Coleman, who has studied these things. I think there’s little doubt that media coverage of these events encourages future killers.
One thing I noticed about the Colorado shootings is that the courageous actions of Jeanne Assam shifted some of the media attention away from the killer and onto her.  I’m hoping that her willingness to talk to the media, and tell her story, will put these sociopaths on notice that churches aren’t the soft targets they imagine. I am hoping that the publicity Assam’s actions have gotten will mean we won’t see a mass shooting in another church for quite some time.
This reiterates the importance of carrying wherever you go. The life you save may not be just your own, and the people around you. It may also serve to shatter the fantasy of these deranged people by shifting the attention away from them, and onto you, the person who stopped them, and to let them know their intended prey might not be so helpless as they think. That kind of attention might be unwelcome, but I find the idea of a copycat killer more upsetting.