Sebastian – Page 199 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Wading into the Next Controversy

Papa Delta Bravo wades into the next controversy over gender and guns that’s been making its way around the blogosphere:

This picture manages to be more insulting and condescending than the usual â€œbooth bunniesâ€ holding and displaying firearms. Itâ€™s arranged to be an â€œactionâ€ picture, yet itâ€™s obviously and ridiculously artificial. The layout of the photo is supposed to make her look like an expert, but the details make her look like she has no idea what sheâ€™s doing (although she is a competitive shooter when sheâ€™s not posing for pictures). Weâ€™ve crossed the line from â€œsex sellsâ€ window dressing into â€œmen will only listen to female industry reps if theyâ€™re flawless 10sâ€.

I don’t really have a problem with the gun industry using sex to move product, but it has to be done in a way that’s not going to put off other women. In the pharmaceutical industry, which are selling to the predominately male medical profession, sales reps tend to be unusually attractive women. Why? Because men are suckers for pretty ladies trying to sell them shit. But you’d never see a pharma rep dress like Melissa Gilliland in these photos. Why? Because it would violate the professional standards of the community they are selling into, for one, and for two, there are women in the medical profession that drug companies don’t want to alienate.

I agree with PDB that there’s a fine line. This picture here illustrates it for me. Which one do you think you could get away with posting on your office wall? The firearms community cannot afford to be off-putting to women. Other industries have adopted professional standards that still recognize that they are selling into a male dominated community, but avoid over the top nonsense like this. The Firearms business has gotten better in recent years, but there’s still a lot of vendors out there advertising that guns and shooting are a boys club.

The Derp… It Burns!

Thanks to Tam for this video highlighting the latest bad idea to come out of the firearms industry:

Best comment from over at Tam’s: “Well, that’s one way to teach folks not to teacup a gun.”

First Victim in CT: Ignorance of the Law is no Excuse

SayUncle and Bob Owens are both reporting on the first victim of Daniel Malloy’s new gun control laws. He was carrying a firearm lawfully when a police officer pulled him over saw his concealed carry permit. The officer then asked him if he had a weapon on him. Our victim was carrying a 15 round magazine with 11 rounds in it. He was issued a summons for the misdemeanor. Our victim will have a lot of luck, I’m sure, landing employment with a gun offense on his record. To someone who is not a member of the criminal class, even a misdemeanor conviction can be devastating. If the anti-gun folks can’t put us in prison, ruining our lives is the next best thing!

As a side note, the guy got caught when the officer caught a flash of his concealed weapons license while he was fishing for his drivers license. Connecticut is not a “must inform” state. A lot of people will give you advice that you should always inform the officer. I think that’s foolish and unwise. I store my LTC separate from my license. I would never inform an officer I’m armed if I’m not legally required to. Many suggest it is a courtesy. You don’t owe the authorities anything. The less you reveal or say in an encounter, the better off you’re going to be. This demonstrates that.

Breaking News: New Jersey Court Ruling & Carolyn McCarthy

We have two breaking news items. One, a New Jersey Superior Court has ruled that local police departments can’t add their own forms and requirements above and beyond what is required by state law in order to issue FID cards and Purchase Permits. New Jersey courts used to routinely allow departments to disregard clear legal requirements, so if this indicates a shift in the attitudes towards guns by New Jersey state courts, it’s a welcome one.

The second breaking news items it that a prime leader of the Gun Control movement in the House, Carolyn McCarthy, is retiring. If Democrats become once again convinced that gun control is a losing issue, we might be able to earn ourselves a bit of peace. The leaders of the anti-gun movement have been getting old, and they may not be replaced by folks who are as zealous about it.

Wednesday News Links

I hope everyone is thawing nicely. I notice my thermometer is now up to 18 degrees, on its way to 23. It’s a heat wave! Here’s some news for this Wednesday:

Eugene Volokh takes on the “spray firing from the hip,” nonsense spread by our opponents. I’d note that the District Court in NYSRPA v. Cuomo bought this line, and included it in the opinion upholding the SAFE Act.

Miguel notes that MDA seems to be in favor of complete bans on sales or transfer of firearms. Shannon Watts is a radical anti-gun extremists. I’m still quite surprised Bloomberg has chosen to back the crazy.

Are New Jerseyans starting to question the anti-gun dogma? Stranger things have happened.

The Bundeswehr is upgrading their venerable MG3, which is essentially the MG42 from WWII chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO.

An assault bat.

Gun control groups in Colorado are taking a fresh look at banning carry on college campuses.

The Weapons Blog has a look at gun giveaway contests.

Dave Hardy takes a look at a new book on jury nullification.

“New York’s Face-Free Gun Ruling”

The Democrats would really like Mike Bloomberg’s money without all that gun control claptrap. I’m not sure he’s really given up. Even if Shannon Watts is a whack job, his money is still a threat.

Dead AK-47 Inventor To Be Buried In Mud For A Week, Cleaned Off, Then Put Back To Work.

Notice of Rulemaking on Background Checks

It’s been published in the federal register. This is the first step an agency takes when it wants to change a rule, according to the Administrative Procedure Act. This is a proposal. There will be a public comment period, where the public can provide feedback. The docket number for this proposed change is ATF 51P. Reader Chris sent me some analysis which I agree with, so I will reproduce it here:

Big changes I saw:

– People who are not-guilty by means of insanity will be prohibited.

Comment: Â Sen Begich proposed a federal law that would have done the same thing, S480. Â S480 served as a sort of “RINO and DINO 2A Liferaft,” offering a refuge for lawmakers who need to look pro-2A but also need to Do Something For the Children. Â ATF’s ruling will take S480 off the table in the future. Â It basically closes off a safety valve that allowed lawmakers to duck a tough vote.

– ATF is considering clarifying whether the term â€˜â€˜committed to a mental institutionâ€™â€™ includes a commitment that occurred when the person was under the age of 18.

Comment: Â I wonder if people under age 18 receive the same due process rights as adults when being committed to treatment.

– In addition, the Department proposes amending the definition of â€˜â€˜committedÂ

to a mental institutionâ€™â€™ to clarify that involuntary commitment to a mentalÂ

institution includes both inpatient and outpatient treatment.

Comment: Â The final text of the ruling here will be critical. Â Does mandatory court-ordered substance abuse or anger management or marital counseling qualify as “involuntary outpatient treatment?” Â S480 used different, more specific language: Â “required involuntary outpatient treatment by a psychiatric hospital based on a finding that the person is an imminent danger to himself or to others; or”

– Persons are not considered to have been â€˜â€˜committed to a mental institutionâ€™â€™ as a result of a voluntary admission to a mental institution or a temporary admission for observation unless the temporary admission for observation turns into a qualifyingÂ

commitment as a result of a formal commitment by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority.

Comment: Â “Other lawful authority” gives me pause… Â Does a nurse and cop authorizing a 72 hour hold qualify? Â Hopefully no. Â S480 used different, more precise language to rule out this possibility. Â S480 also read that it would NOT include, “a person who is in a psychiatric hospital for observation;”

Finally, S480 included relief for individuals who were no longer a danger to themselves or others.

Really, the ATF rule looks like a way to take S480 off the table, and to run with the most restrictive aspects of S480 without any of the protections Begich/Graham had written in.

The 7th Circuit Continues to Please

By now most of you have probably seen the news about the ruling in the 7th Circuit tossing Chicago’s ban on gun transfers and sales within city limits. I think the result in the 7th Circuit speaks in favor of taking this issue to the federal courts. I get pessimistic and gloomy sometimes about our prospects of real protections out of the federal courts, but the 7th circuit rulings stand against my pessimism. They’ve been willing to take the right more seriously than other federal circuits. The Court here reasoned that Chicago could not claim to be discouraging criminal acquisition when it likewise discouraged ordinary acquisition:

But these transaction costs are also borne by law-abiding residents of these neighborhoods, who are equally parochial and may suffer many of the same dangers by crossing into gang-infested territory. So whatever burdens the City hopes to impose on criminal users also falls squarely on law-abiding residents who want to exercise their Second Amendment right.

It’s great to see a federal court calling BS on the longstanding argument that it’s just fine to generally discourage exercise of the right because it also discourages criminals.

Monday Pre-Freeze News Links

This winter is really shaping up to be a bear. We got stuck out at my dad’s in central Pennsylvania with freezing rain, waiting for the predicted temperature increase that didn’t come until well after midnight. I stopped by the office in the way back, but we only have a few hours until it goes from warm and rainy to arctic cold. So until I get home, here’s some news links:

Only government officials are responsible enough to possess and carry firearms.

Detroit’s police chief is calling BS on the whole gun control fraud. If more inner city chiefs decide to stop parroting the lies from their political overlords, it’ll be over for the gun control movement.

Gun control is another job killing program from the left. These are manufacturing jobs that require skilled labor. It’s good for the economy to keep them.

Why are anti-gun advocates so violent? Notice they don’t delete this stuff, only calmed and reasoned disagreement from our side gets deleted.

In some states, carrying a concealed firearm is reason for the cops to check your papers.

Uncle also notes that Tennessee could use some better preemption. I noticed a park when I was visiting over the holidays that was off limits. I didn’t realize that hadn’t been totally preempted.

When seconds count, the police are only 74 minutes away.

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible.

Getting guns right at the New York Times. The problem is, their mistakes which are pointed out don’t even make math sense. I know a lot of firearms knowledge is pretty esoteric, but but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know .9mm is an awfully small hole.

Strategery!

A look at the 2013 ammo stats from Lucky Gunner.

Tam shakes the ant farm with an open carry post that I kept in my tabs because I thought I had more to say, but I don’t really. The takeaway is this: “There’s a difference between just carrying a gun, and carrying a gunÂ at people.” And here’s another thing: when you find yourself questioning whether Tam is pro-gun, it’s time to ask another question.

A look at the Glock 41 and the Glock 42.

Robbing Gun Shops is Hazardous to your Health

Two young individuals with a reckless disregard for their own well-being woke up and decided to rob a gun shop in Collingdale, Pennsylvania. Collingdale is kind of my second home town. It’s where my parents were born, raised, where they married, and where my maternal grandmother lived until she died ten years ago. It was a small suburban borough. Still is, actually. But by the time my grandmother was getting up there in age I was concerned about the state of her neighborhood. It wasn’t dangerous, per se, but emigrants from the City were starting to turn it. I usually visited with a Glock 19 strapped to my hip, which probably would have been much to her horror if she knew. I was surprised Suburban Armory is still around, but in truth the residents there probably need them more than they did when I was growing up.

h/t to Tam for the pointer.

New Executive Orders on Background Checks

So far it’s not looking like anything worth getting upset about:

One proposal would formally give permission to states to submit “the limited information necessary to help keep guns out of potentially dangerous hands,” without having to worry about the privacy provisions in a law known as HIPAA.

I believe it’s already the case that HIPPA doesn’t apply to records reported for the purposes of NICS compliance.

The other proposal would clarify that those who are involuntarily committed to a mental institution — both inpatient and outpatient — count under the law as “committed to a mental institution.”

I believe most states are already counting OITs and reporting them to NICS. Outpatient Involuntary Treatment is still an adjudication, it’s just that instead of institutionalizing the person so adjudicated, they are put on medication and supervised on an outpatient basis. So far I don’t think either of these EOs does anything that wasn’t already existing practice. It basically only makes the existing practice “official.”

Still, it’s worth keeping an eye on. The Clinton Administration did quite a lot of damage in this area by reporting a lot of veterans records to NICS, with those individuals having no further recourse, and many of whom were not any danger to themselves or anyone else.