Sebastian – Page 412 – Shall Not Be Questioned

More Gun Control Groups Becoming Unhinged

It’s becoming more clear to me that the former major gun control group, the Brady Campaign, are increasingly surrendering on influencing policy, and have adopted a new tactic of embracing radicalism, likely in an attempt to solicit more donors so they can all keep their jobs. Just take a look at Dan Gross’ statement from Brady:

Mitt Romney has already established a clear reputation for flip-flopping and pandering to win votes, and that is just what he is doing by speaking at the NRA convention. Â This time he is going too far. Â He is proudly aligning himself with a lobby that is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans every year, a lobby that uses a mentality of fear and paranoia, tinged with just the right amount of racism, to promote its sole agenda of selling more guns, with no concern for who buys those or how they are used.

So we’re racists and murderers now, according to the Brady Campaign. That, folks, isn’t meant to speak to politicians, the media, or other such people who can legitimately influence policy. That’s meant to speak to the mouth foamers and convince them to open their wallets. Not to be outdone, the Coalition to Stop Gun Ownership one decides they need to up the ante. In the realm of crazy, they will not be outdone by the pikers at the Brady Campaign.

Naturally I challenged such a ridiculous assertion, but they felt the need to keep digging:

So I follow their link, and it starts out with a bunch of statements from Carol Bambery that are unsupported by live links, and then moves on quickly to the white supremacist statements of… Ken Blackwell.

Now I have my disagreements with Blackwell. He’s a strong social conservative and on social issues I tend to run pretty liberal. But calling Ken Blackwell a White Supremacist is up there with the best tin foil hat rhetoric I’ve run across.

And finally, the coup de grace:

Yes, folks, this George Wallace who famously said “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” This is not a message aimed at a rational audience. This is a message aimed at people who are mentally off kilter, or highly ignorant, and who I’m sure CSGV are hoping are ignorant enough to actually donate them money, or you know, show up a protest. I know from my own activist experience that the off kilter and ignorant are unreliable and often counterproductive to have on your side. This is a losing strategy for them. To be relevant you need people who live in a reality, not mouth foamers. Mouth foamers will just destroy your credibility. We should be happy our opponents seem to have lost touch with reality as we know it. We are winning. MAIG is the only remaining serious threat.

CSGV’s “White Culture War”

The Coalition to Stop Gun ~~Ownership~~ Violence has been coming unhinged lately, but they really took the cake when they Tweeted this bit of racism:

This is coming from an organization that continually denies gun control has racist origins, and that gun control today is not racially motivated. But if you say this is a “white culture war” doesn’t that imply that you think this right is for white people? I think we’re all firm believers that the Second Amendment right is one that belonged to all people, yet we’re often labeled as the racist ones.

I’m sure it will come as a great surprise to NRA’s African American members who are here today that they are part of a white culture war. I’m sure it was a surprise to Governor Bobby Jindal, who is of Indian descent, that his unwavering support of the Second Amendment is part of a “white culture war.”

One has to wonder what other rights our opponents think are “white.”

The Incredible Disappearing Protest

For as much as our friends at the Coalition to Stop Gun ~~Ownership~~ Violence hyped their protest at the NRA Annual Meeting, I’m here to report that it amounted to nothing. All I could find is this dangerous, angry looking insurrectionist:

Dangerous Insurrectionist

As Days of Our Trailers noted after walking all over the area looking for this mystery protest, “It was like Where’s Waldo but w/ a bald guy w/ anger management issues.” There were several traditional media out there looking as well. I’m always glad when our opponents blow their credibility. Way to show reporters there’s passion on their side of the issue.

Mitt Romney

He’s the first speaker up today. Very little of his speech so far has been about gun rights. Not too surprising, given that it’s not his strongest issue. His message is more about freedom and smaller government.

UPDATE: Looks like Romney managed to mention Fast and Furious, and make a nod to getting rid of Holder. He also promises he will protect our Second Amendment rights.

UPDATE: One of his better speeches, actually, I have to say.

An Infamous St. Louis Courthouse

This is the courthouse the Dred Scott case was first heard in.

Charges Expected Against Zimmerman

Looks like the special prosecutor is going to bring charges. Probably manslaughter charges. The question is: will manslaughter appease the mob? Or will the media renew calls for Zimmerman’s lynching?

This is what justice looks like. Now the true facts will come out.

UPDATE: Nope, it’s 2nd degree murder. Either there is some new evidence in this case that we have not yet seen, or the special prosecutor has gone with total mob appeasement on a charge she knows the can’t win. If that’s the case, the hot potato now goes to the just who has to decide on Zimmerman’s eventual motion for immunity.

Justice Scalia’s New Hunting Partner

Justice Kagan? Perhaps this portends some positive news for the Second Amendment, but I wouldn’t count on it.

Consequences of Canadian Long Gun Registry Demise for Americans

Arma Borealis, an Alaska blog, has some pretty good discussion on the effects of the Canadian Long Gun Registry for Americans traveling through Canada. Apparently the long gun registration requirement had a very negative effect on Americans traveling to the great white north for hunting trips, into the 4 to 5 billion dollar lost range.

Keep in mind that the requirement did not ban Americans from hunting in Canada, they just had to register their long arms and obtain a 50 dollar license. The license fee is peanuts compared to the cost of a Canadian hunting trip, so if that many hunters, to the tune of billions of dollars, were unwilling to register their hunting guns, it should offer our opponents an example of why they will have such a hard time getting registration. There are certainly hunters out there who meet the classic definition of “fudd,” but there are also many, probably more, who have no more enthusiasm for registration than most hard core gun rights activists.

Challenge to Self-Defense Law

There’s an activist in Georgia who supposedly challenging SYG in federal court. In reality he’s challenging centuries of common law, and attacking the very core of self-defense:

“It is not clear what actions would create â€˜reasonable belief’ that deadly force is necessary,” said the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta. “An individual seeking to stand their ground and assert self-defense has no way of knowing if their â€˜reasonable belief’ comports with the standards protected by the law and [they] want to ensure that they do not subject themselves to criminal penalties.”

Reasonable belief has always been the standard. This case is pretty obviously a publicity stunt, and I don’t believe the federal courts are going to overturn centuries of common law and statutory law. Besides, after Heller, there’s arguably a constitution right to self-defense. But it’s worth noting that there are enough hucksters out there capitalizing off this case, that they’ll try anything, even attacking the very foundations of the rule of law, to make a name for themselves.

Back in the Black

Cemetery tries to shoot an IPSC match with black powder:

Shot a local USPSA match yesterday, signed up for Single Stack in Minor, since real black canâ€™t deliver the power factor needed for major.Â Maybe, just maybe, SWISS 3f can squeak byâ€¦..and what about Triple Seven?Â Triple Seven is noted to be 15% hotter than any black powder in each grade, so thatâ€™s a possibility, but thatâ€™s a black powder substitute, and we donâ€™t need to discuss such things here.

I once joked with Cemetery at a local blogger gathering, that he ought to carry cartridges loaded with pepper, and at meals unseat the bullet and sprinkle it on food, offering up “a little seasoning” to the folks around him to see if anyone accepts. I thought it would be a nice touch.