The shooting community seems to have a lot of people who spin them. I’m wondering if this is something unique about our community, or whether it happens in other communities. If it is unique, why? I mean, I suppose there are car buff yarn spinners who talk about the time they got into a stoplight confrontation with Richard Petty and totally smoked him, but are they so numerous?
Author: Sebastian
Tab Clearing: Library of Law & Liberty Edition
This is a new blog (to me) I’ve been watching since I discovered Professor Johnson had joined the blog. It’s good reading, but definitely not light reading, so here are some highlights from the various authors.
Nicholas Johnson: Bob Costas’ Supply-Side Gun Control Fallacy, Is Gun Regulation Maturing?
Mike Rappaport: What Libertarians Think About the U.S. Constitution Part III: Shay’s Rebellion, Liberty, and a Stronger National Government
Jeremy Bailey: Energy in the Executive: Thomas Jefferson’s Transformative Presidency
James Stoner: Why You Can’t Understand the Constitution Without the Common Law
Hadley Arkes:Â Peeling Back the Common Law: Reflections Stirred by James Stoner on the Common Law
Microstamping in New York
Jacob notes that the so-called Independent Democratic Conference left microstamping out of their agenda, and notes some hand wringing among Democrats. Maybe there’s a chance to stop this.
UPDATE: A bill has been introduced. I guess we’ll see if it goes anywhere.
Latest Costas Roundup
This is truth:
Note that Bob Costas is high enough profile to elicit outrage from people. The fact is that every tragedy is exploited in this manner by the leaders of the gun control movement. Every time. You can count on it like you can count on the sun coming up. They, of course, take great exception when this is pointed out, because they don’t view their advocacy as being inherently political. They are trying to save lives, and who can argue with that except some evil person?
In other news, it looks like none of the other players on the K.S. Chiefs are blaming guns for this. It’s worth noting that NFL players, as wealthy, high-profile celebrities, have a need for protection that is, in the words of New York’s Sullivan law, “a special need for self-protection distinguishable from that of the general community or of persons engaged in the same profession.†These are people who generally qualify for permits even under standards as strict as those of New York’s.
But remember, it’s the evil gun culture that’s responsible.
Turning Things Around in Illinois
Governor Quinn’s veto of a bill that would allow mail order ammo shipments to FOID holders in the Land of Lincoln has been soundly overridden by the legislator. Remember that he issued an “Amendatory Veto,” which turned the pro-gun bill around to be an assault weapons ban. This represents an utter repudiation of that.
Let me just say that rumors of our demise has been greatly exaggerated.
New Zimmerman Evidence
The more I hear about the prosecutor in the Zimmerman case, the more I think she has no business wielding state power. It looks like the prosecution was withholding key evidence, that has now only come to light due to supplemental discovery in the case. TalkLeft, run by a defense attorney, also notes some deception on the part of Benjamin Crump as to the age of one of the witnesses, who it may seem is not a juvenile, as was claimed.
Wasting Money
Anderson Cooper does some investigating reporting showing the great wastage in Chicago programs intended to fight crime, but which may, in fact, be giant scams. Dave Hardy also notes a 5.9 million dollar federal grant to several Ohio cities to “fight gun violence” which seems to have just up and disappeared. Imagine what could have been achieved if instead of spending the money on BS programs like this, the money had gone to help keep criminals in prison longer?
My Apologies for Slow Posting
Today was an office day, and there was much to do. In addition, I had to swing by MicroCenter on the way home to exchange some memory I bought last week which turned out to be defective. Took a few hours on the memory tests to make sure these sticks were OK, but lo and behold:
We will now return to our regularly scheduled blogging.
Proportioning Electors
Senate Republicans in Pennsylvania are proposing a plan that would proportion our electors in the Electoral college according to popular vote. Maybe if Senate Republicans spent more time trying to live up to their promises, instead of spending time trying to figure out how to get more votes for Republicans, Corbett’s numbers wouldn’t be so far in the toilet.
Given the GOP’s poor luck in the VoterID debacle, if their luck continues, I think it’s likely in 2016 that PA would have gone red, but the GOP candidate will lose by a margin he would have beat in the Electoral College if PA had stayed with the original electoral scheme.
Meanwhile, we still have socialized wine and liquor in this state, and you can’t buy beer at supermarkets or convenience stores.
The Collectivist Blame Game
Jim Geraghty has noticed what most of us have been dealing with forever any time we have contact with activists in the gun control movement: they collectively place the blame for every act of horrific violence at our feet as if we’re the people cause such violence:
Okay, once and for all: Enough with this ‘we’re all to blame, we must all struggle to prevent tragedy’ bullcrap. Because none of us had anything to do with the actions of Jovan Belcher. You and I and every other reader of this newsletter and about 99.999 percent of the American people prevent these sorts of tragedies every day . . . by not committing them, and by never seriously contemplating considering them. We are not all ticking time bombs, one stressful day away from committing mass murder. If we were, civilization would collapse.
The rant continues. I encourage you to read the whole thing, and sign up for the Morning Jolt (Note: NR will hit you with some e-mail ads every once in a while, but not nearly often enough to be obnoxious.). Geraghty also notes this kind of collectivist blame is a common theme in Obama’s rhetoric, noting “Now we see what ‘never waste a crisis’ means: never let any horrific act go unattributed to your political foes.”