Sebastian – Page 1454 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Illinois Gun Makers Getting Nervous

From the Quad-Cities online, it appears that opposition to the IL magazine ban is mounting:

GENESEO — When one of Illinois’ gun control bills finally broke through the Senate last week, it sent a collective chill up the spines of five local gun manufacturers and the 500 employees it could impact in the Illinois Quad-Cities area.

Last Wednesday, Illinois Senate Bill 1007, which bans making, selling, possessing, delivering or buying magazines that hold more than 10 bullets, passed 31-26. On Monday, local gun manufacturers, politicians, and representatives from the Illinois Quad City Chamber of Commerce held a press conference denouncing the Senate bill and jobs it could cost the area.

Apparently Springfield Armory is saying they will be forced to leave the state if this passes. Â Springfield is apparently Geneseo’s third largest employer.Â Armalite is also located there as well, with 85 employees.

Sen. Dan Kotowski, D-Park Ridge, the bill’s sponsor, said last week that the bill would limit the damage done by criminals.

‘Acknowledge the reality that there’s only so much we can do,’ Sen. Kotowski said. ‘There’s 300 million guns in the country. …Criminals are going to get guns. Why not limit the damage that they can cause?’

Are Park Ridge voters paying attention to this clown?Â So we can’t get keep guns out of the hands of criminals, but supposedly magazine control will be easy?Â Maybe if I take some more allergy medication this will start to make sense, but right now the logic eludes me.

Rock River Arms, Colona, has also said it would relocate if necessary. Les Baer Custom, Inc., Hillsdale, owner Les Baer was also present Monday. Mr. Baer is in the process of trying to move his business to LeClaire, Iowa. Two weeks ago, a Davenport Alderman said he spoke to Rock River Arms and Lewis Machine and Tool about moving to Davenport.

Geneseo Ald. Ed Deener, 1st Ward, said if Springfield Armory and ArmaLite move from Geneseo, ‘it would devastate us. Housing values would go down. School revenues would take a dive. It would be just like dominoes in a negative way.

‘It would have a ripple affect.’

That’s a lot of jobs!Â I wonder how many other jobs support these manufacturing operations?Â I guess devestating the town of Geneseo is just fine by the Chicago politicians, if it means they can avoid admitting that their local gun controls are a failure. Â I wonder how the people if Geneseo feel being sacrificed on the alter of Chicago’s delusions.

Looking for a C&R .22LR Target Pistol

It occurred to me to check the C&R market for a .22LR target pistol, since it would be easier for me to pick up something with my license than to run around to 20 different gun stores or wait for a gun show to find something I liked. I’ve discovered that the Colt Woodsman seems to be the most common C&R target pistol out there.

In good condition these seem to go from anywhere from 400-600 bucks. Anyone have any experience with these? Or know of any other C&R .22LR target pistol I should consider? I’d consider revolvers as well.

Suicide and the Substitution Effect

John Lott would appear to be in Japan, and has a very interesting observation:

A very common way of people committing suicides is for people to throw themselves in front of trains. I can only imagine the social costs of this form of suicide in that the trains appear to be stopped for an hour or so. It would be interesting to compare the costs of say Americans committing suicide with the cost of Japanese.

In the United States, someone determined to kill themselves will likely choose a firearm.Â It would appear that in Japan, throwing oneself in front of a train is how they get the job done.Â Also of note is that Japan’s suicide rate is much higher than the United States, despite a near prohibition on firearms.

I have little doubt that the availability of firearms increases the rate of suicide by gun in the United States.Â I have my doubts, however, that it is a primary driver of suicide rates overall. Â As the Japanese show here, there are plenty of substitute methods that are just as sure and swift.

“Land Line Holders Typically Older, More Affluent”

I guess I’m more affluent then, because I’d hate to think I fit into the “older” demographic now.Â This Slashdot post talks about the increasing trend among young people to give up the land line:

More than a quarter of the under-30 crowd has decided you only need one telephone â€” and it sure as heck does not plug into a wall. The trend towards an all-mobile lifestyle is accelerating, according to a new survey. Besides younger people, lower-income people are also more likely to have cut the cord. And while businesses may be a bit slower on the cell-only uptake, there appears to be little doubt at this point that the traditional landline will be joining rotary dials and party lines as a relic of the telecommunications industry.

I still have a land line, but I have thought about giving it up.Â I use my land line similarly to how I use GMail. Â When I want to give someone a phone number, but I really don’t want them bothering me, I’ll give them the land line.Â Anyone who I know well enough gets the cell phone number.Â I don’t answer calls on my land line unless I recognize the caller, which is rare, since everyone who knows me knows to call the cell phone.

Thinking about it, it probably makes sense to give up the land phone.Â But I doubt I’ll actually do it.Â It must be the old fogy in me that has a hard time letting go of the wire.

“Stalinist System, Just Gussied Up a Bitâ€

Bitter has posted an article from Food and Wine talking about the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, and Pennsylvania’s ossified liquor laws in general.Â As much as it’s a problem for individual citizens, it’s an even bigger problem for restaurants and bars.Â As a citizen, I can go over to New Jersey to get liquor, beer, and wine I can’t easily get here.Â Â While I wouldn’t describe New Jersey’s liquor laws as the model of liberalism, they are certainly less draconian than Pennsylvania’s.Â Bars and Restaurants don’t have this option.Â Â As a condition of their liquor license, they have to buy from the state monopoly, which means you have your choice of wines and spirits that the state monopoly carries.Â Â There have been significant improvements in recent years in this regard, but the LCB is and will remain an antiquated system that ought to be abolished.

In other states, you can by wine, beer, and in some cases even hard liquor in supermarkets.Â I think only a fool would argue that these states have more alcohol related problems than Pennsylvania does. Â I think it’s high time our state legislators ended the state monopoly, and adopted liquor laws more similar to Arizona’s.

The Psychological Toll of Justifiable Homocide

Dr. Helen is talking about the issue of stress police officers are put under, especially in the wake of justified use of deadly force:

Notice that the incident itself is not what makes the officer guilty and stressed, it is the media and public making their lives miserable. If even police officers are made to feel guilty for protecting the lives of citizens by our “don’t defend yourself or anyone else” culture and media, I can’t imagine how civilians who had to use force are made to feel after an incident in which they had to protect themselves or others. The article goes on to look at why officers are afraid to ask for psychological help, but maybe the real question is: “why is the officer treated as a pariah instead of a hero for protecting others from mayhem?” For if they were treated as a hero, or at least with some respect for doing their job, then maybe, they could resolve the shooting incident a whole lot faster or on their own without professional help.

In training, they always teach you that if you’re involved in a justifiable shooting, that you should expect to be arrested, and treated like a common criminal who has done something horribly wrong.Â In the case of a civilian shooter, administrative leave would be a picnic in comparison to having to fork over your life savings to pay for a lawyer to make your defense.Â The lawyer who addressed the class for the training I did spoke of a recent case where he defended a police officer in a justifiable shooting.Â The defense costs went well into six figures.Â Police officers generally get their defense paid for.Â Civilians don’t.

There is a perception among many people that no violence is justified, and who look down upon people who prepare for it.Â It’s not right, but it’s something we have to live with.Â I’ve always thought it odd that some police officers have problems with civilians carrying firearms for personal protection.Â The root cause of the problem is that few people have had to consider the circumstances that would surround having to use deadly force in self-defense, and even fewer have actually had training in it.Â I would be a police officer’s best friend on a jury in a legitimate shooting situation, because I’ve had to consider doing it myself, and I suspect most of the rest of us who have would also be similarly sympathetic.

Tomorrow’s Election

Despite the fact that tomorrow’s election is a primary, it will essentially decide who will be the next Mayor of Philadelphia.Â If polls are to be believed, it will be taken by Michael Nutter.Â Despite the fact that I can’t vote in primaries, there is a ballot measure in regards to taxation that I will need to show up and vote against.

It’s basically about the Township of Middletown passing a 1% Earned Income Tax to help pay for schools, and offset property taxes.Â As it is, I already pay this tax to Plymouth Township, where I work.Â If it were to pass, it would just meant my money is going to the schools in my neighborhood rather than the schools where I work.Â I still plan to vote no, however, on the principle that I prefer property taxes in income taxes.Â I’ve never understood the objection to property taxes, personally.

Argh!

For some reason we had a power failure, and it seems the host can’t keep time straight when it reboots for some reason.Â I expect this will screw Bloglines up for the next week, because their software can’t handle posts appearing in the future.Â It will soon be time to replace the server with something more reliable.

Fighting Hay Fever

I’m heavily medicated today, so when I’m not sleeping I’ll be laying pretty low. I just got back from the store where I bent over for Uncle Sam so I could get some Sudafed. The real stuff, not the crap they sell OTC now. You know what PE in Sudafed PE stands for? Placebo Effect. That stuff doesn’t work at all.

I’m not a big believer in Claratin either. It helps, but not anything like Benadryl. Benadryl is the shit, but it totally screws me up.

Practicing to Go e-Postal

One of these days I would like to do one of Mr. Completely‘s e-Postal matches. Tonight I went to the range with the aim of seeing how I’d do. I’m not much of a presicion shooter. I generally practice to be good enough in a self-defense situation, but not too much on slow and deliberate fire.

I tried both my Ruger Mk.II 50th Anniversary edition pistol and my normal carry pistol, the Glock 19. I shot a few targets to warm up, because it’s been several weeks since I had shot. First I tried the Glock 19. This edition of the e-Postal match is Golf. The shooting was from 25 ~~yards~~ feet, weaver stance. My pistols have no optics or modifications. It’s all factory. I have to admit, this was pretty difficult.

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