Ryan Horsley has the details. And this is happening under a “pro-gun” administration folks.
Author: Sebastian
The Real History
Cam Edwards notices some inconsistencies in some of Bryan Miller’s statements, and points out the true history of the Tiahrt Amendment:
The ATF has been opposed to the general release of its trace data since at least 1999, when Chicago Mayor Richard Daley sued the ATF to try and gain access to the data under the Freedom of Information Act. The ATF, under the Clinton administration, also felt that this information should not be available to the general public.
It wasn’t until the case was headed to the Supreme Court in 2003 that Congress stepped in and passed the Tiahrt Amendment, rendering the Daley case moot.
The facts are such inconvenient things for the gun control movement.
It Was Only a Matter of Time
It was only a matter of time before the shit awful drivers on I-95 between DC and Philadelphia nailed one of us. Bitter called me and told me she had been rear ended. She’s OK, but the car is screwed. Don’t know if she’ll be able to make it up now. Might have to go in a rescue mission, though she says the car is drivable, but I don’t know how drivable. More later.
UPDATE: Bitter called me back. She’s resumed her journey. The MD State Trooper said the car was road worthy. Doesn’t sound that bad. They hit the rear tire and shattered the windshield.  The door is probably toast, but the main body, I’m thinking, is probably OK.  Door and window will have to be replaced.  The question will be whether to get it done here, and have her rent a car to take home, or drive the car home and get it taken care of there. The State Trooper said it was the 9th accident today, the tenth happened while Bitter was off to the side, and she witnessed it.  I’ll need to be careful when going through Baltimore.  In my experience, drivers along the I95 corridor in the Northeast are among the worst in the country.
The Open Source Firearm
Interesting article in The Register talking how the Kalashnikov is the open source rifle that took the world by storm.
Bad BBU
I seem to have a faulty battery backup unit on my FiOS system that’s causing the outage. When I came home the light was on at the junction box outside that indicated the power was out and battery was low. I go check the AC line, and it’s feeding power to the BBU just fine. Fortunately, unplugging the battery convinced it that it had a bad battery, but everything else was fine. We’re back up for now. Verizon will be out tomorrow to replace the faulty BBU.
Life Free or Die!
Well, I think Ed Brown, the notorious tax protester, is going to choose the latter option. It’s a very well written post. These are the kinds of people I’d honestly prefer not have guns.  They make normal gun owners look like whack jobs. Taxes are not a reason to threaten to murder people, and whether he ends up dead or in prison, I won’t shed a tear for him.
But I will say this, his situation is an interesting study in how power works. If you defy your governments laws, eventually men with guns will come and exert the government’s power over you.  All power comes down to that.  To those people who believe that small arms can never be effective against an oppressive government, Ed Brown’s continuing resistance to government power shows that the notion is incorrect. If it wasn’t for being armed, he’d be in federal custody already.
I believe Mr. Brown is gravely mistaken in his belief that the government has gotten so out of control that violence is an acceptable solution. Â I’m sympathetic to the idea that the government has made too many encroachments into our liberties, and that our federal government exercises power beyond its constitutional limits, but the government has done no wrong so grave that taking up arms against it, and against its agents, it warranted.
My Beer Fridge Doesn’t Do This!
This is very cool.  Unfortunately, it means you have to drink beer from a can, which is sacrilege.  Beer is properly drunk from a glass, unless you’re a heathen.  I suppose it would be possible to construct a robot that would throw you a bottle, and a fresh glass, but failing to catch it could get rather messy.
Guns on Campus from Independent Alligator
Via The Madman Raves, we have opposing points of view.  Nothing we haven’t heard before, but I love the name “Independent Alligator” for a student newspaper. This is a very difficult issue for us to win on, because it’s too easily painted with imagery of handing out guns to students at frat parties. I don’t think we should call for “arming students” or “arming professors”.  That needs to be banished from our rhetoric, and it’s not what we’re trying to do anyway.
This is a political battle you fight outside the context of any tragedy or incident. Neither the Appalachian Law School shooting, which was stopped by armed students, nor Virginia Tech, which was caused by one, seems to have created any significant movement for getting universities or state lawmakers to change their mind about firearms on campus. That probably will never change.
It’s important to note that there is nothing in Virginia law that prevents a student with a valid CHL from carrying a firearm on any college campus in Virginia. I’ve long said, responsible and well trained gun carriers need not worry themselves about policy issues. The people who make those policies are worried about not getting blamed and/or sued. If you’re serious about carrying a firearm for self-defense, and if you’re doing it, you better damned well be serious about it, you take the risk. Our lives, and the lives of those around us, are worth more than a lawsuit or negative press.
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Talks about the Guv
This editorial is meant to be a piece about Michael Nutter, but it’s pretty spot on in it’s criticism of our Governor from when he was Mayor of Philadelphia:
 Nutter has the kind of reform agenda that people wrongly associate with Rendell, who entered office with a mandate for change and a city teetering on bankruptcy. Rendell immediately went to battle with the city’s powerful unions, which “hadn’t had a bad day in 30 years,” he charged.
After winning significant concessions, though, Rendell aligned himself with Street, then the city council president. Rendell took care of downtown, which thrived, while Street ran the rest of the city as his private patronage kingdom.
With his eye on higher office and his reputation secure, Rendell chose not to pursue the reforms that other innovative mayors enacted in the 1990s. He opposed welfare reform and did little to fight crime outside of downtown. Despite its beautiful architecture and skyline, Philly’s a city where a 10-minute walk from City Hall leaves you in Third World poverty, danger, and despair.
Friend and sometimes co-blogger Brad has called Ed Rendell the luckiest politician alive, meaning that he made his political career largely by riding the same upswing experienced by every other city in the 90s. Â But Rendell never fixed any of the cities fundamental problems, and now we’re paying the piper.
23 Bridges
I get bored on the way to work, and the bridge collapse in Minnesota got me thinking about how many bridges I drive over every day. The answer is 23, on my morning commute. One or two less on my way home. You never really notice 99% of the bridges you drive over.