Sebastian – Page 424 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Microstamping Inserted into New York Budget

Sounds to me like if this passes, the Cerberus folks are going to regret relocating all their manufacturing to New York.

If microstamping were to become law, firearms manufacturers would be forced to employ a patented, sole-sourced concept that independent studies, including those from the National Academy of Sciences and the University of California at Davis, found to be flawed and easily defeated by criminals. Passage of this bill could result in layoffs of factory workers throughout New York as manufacturers, already being heavily lobbied by tax and gun friendly states, consider moving out of New York. Furthermore, firearms manufacturers could be forced to abandon the New York market altogether rather than spend the astronomical sums of money needed to completely reconfigure their manufacturing and assembly processes. This would directly impact law enforcement, firearms retailers and their law-abiding customers.

What we would call a bug, the supporters of this bill would call a feature. If you don’t think New York City politicians would sacrifice upstate jobs on the altar of their hatred for the Second Amendment, you’re kidding yourself.

Oral Argument in Peterson v. Gracia Today

John Richardson wants to know why the Brady Campaign want to keep gays defenseless. Peterson, a gay man, is suing the State of Colorado for not issuing licenses to carry to non-residents so that they may be able to carry while in Colorado. Colorado’s reciprocity statute is limited, and Colorado does not have reciprocity with Peterson’s home state. This is another small step in the lengthy struggle to get a carry case before the Supreme Court.

An Interesting Part of Florida Law

Our opponents have been busy all weekend tweeting to anyone who does or doesn’t want to listen to them that George Zimmerman is out on the street because of the dangerous NRA shoot first law, which legalizes murder, you know. Aside from the hyperbole, the section of Florida Law at issue here, which was part of the Castle Doctrine law passed not terribly long ago is as follows:

(2) A law enforcement agency may use standard proceduresÂ for investigating the use of force as described in subsectionÂ (1), but the agency may not arrest the person for using forceÂ unless it determines that there is probable cause that the forceÂ used was unlawful.

I am going to argue that this passage is relatively meaningless. Standard procedures would be to take the shooter into custody for questioning, which was done in this case. Zimmerman was then released because no probable caused existed to hold him. The standard for an arrest or to be charged with a crime has always been probable cause. So what does this change really? It seems to me all this does is codify what’s already generally law.

Canadian Gun Owners Go Underground

From the National Post:

She is a Toronto grandmother of two in her mid-sixties and she is sharing her love of guns in mid-winter on a underground range in Torontoâ€™s west end. (That range has since closed; Ellenâ€™s club now shoots at another range in the City of Toronto but will not disclose its location.)

Ellen also wonâ€™t share her real name. The request for anonymity reflects a reluctance to disclose personal information in a city in which even legal gun ownership comes with a stigma attached.

â€œYou have to be careful who you talk to,â€ she says. â€œItâ€™s like religion and politics.â€

As long as gun owners remain underground and won’t talk about what they do, the extinction of the culture that allows and tolerates gun ownership is inevitable. Also, to change anything for the better, you have to change the culture. From a Canadian Criminologist:

â€œI know some people like sport shooting, but it doesnâ€™t seem to me like much of a sport, personally. I think a lot of people would also think of it as quite peculiar as a sport, especially because where are those guns stored and how safely? A lot of people would share the view that you should get yourself a proper sport and go play hockey or something.â€

And the reason you need to be “out of the closet” so to speak, is because if you’re not, you can’t attack people like this above for being the sanctimonious pricks that they are. The key to changing the culture is to make the attitude displayed above unacceptable. You won’t see anti-gun folks here saying stuff like this, because we have succeeded in accomplishing that.

The CSGV Tragedy Flowchart

Courtesy of Miguel, originally by Brian Ritchie.

Quote of the Day: The Twinkie Test

From Caleb:

I guess thatâ€™s cool to know that I shouldnâ€™t stick a pastry in my magwell, except I already knew that because Iâ€™m not an idiot. Contrived tests like that donâ€™t show me anything about the durability or reliability of a weapons system; if that test proves anything it proves my already standing point that AKs were designed for the lowest common denominator of military forces.

That’s in response to this video here:

I have to say, that while I don’t really have a dog in the AK v. AR fight, that’s not even a fair comparison for a Twinkie test, since one was shoved in a mag well, and the other into a mag well while the bolt was locked back. But either way, I own both platforms, and each has their strengths and weaknesses. I don’t think it’s much disputed that AKs can be used and abused and still fire more reliably, but the ergonomics and accuracy suffer. ARs demand more care and attention, but I can more easily drop a magazine and replace it without dismounting the gun, and have a prayer of hitting a target at 300 meters.

The Attorney General on “Brainwashing” People Against Guns

Eric Holder from 1995:

Insurrectionist Militias

I’m going to anxiously await CSGV to condemn this:

The New Black Liberation Militia, a self-styled black survival group, has announced that it plans to make a citizens arrest of Zimmerman next week, the Associated Press reported.

It quoted Najee Muhammad, a group leader, saying, “We’ll find him. We’ve got his mug shot and everything.”

Natalie Jackson, a lawyer for the Martin family, said she does not support the threat, but also cannot control them.

If CSGV is to live up to its own standards, and not be hypocritical tools, it would not only condemn this, but also smear the Martin family. As it is, I think the Martin family is correct in their response, and I agree they can’t control the situation. But what some people would call justice, I would call vigilantism and kidnapping. CSGV is willing to hold all of us responsible for the actions of whack jobs and lunatics, so I don’t see why they would make an exception in this case.

I roundly condemn what the NBL Militia is attempting here, and believe CSGV should as well. The rule of law is the rule of law, and men are entitled to a presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law. If this were the New White Liberation Militia, they would condemn their very existence, and I would join them. They would also smear us with the specter of such a militia, which I would not do. It is as unfair to smear all African-Americans with the specter of the NBLM as it is to smear all Second Amendment supporters with the specter of Tim McVeigh and racist militia groups. But I can promise you CSGV lives by a double standard here. They are fraud, they know they are frauds, which is why all they have left is anger.

911 Tapes Released in Martin Shooting in Florida

Zimerman’s Call.

Listening to his call, he had no reason to view Martin as suspicious. He said he was walking down the street looking at houses. You know, kind of like what I do when I walk around my neighborhood. What else is there to look at? You’re either looking at houses, looking up or down the street, or looking at the sky.

As soon as he noticed Zimmerman is following him, the kid took off running. If some strange guy was stalking you, who wouldn’t? Zimmerman got out of his car and pursued. 911 told him they didn’t need him to pursue the kid. Sounds like after he hung up, he did anyway.

Calls 1-3.

None of these calls, save one, reveal any more detail than someone was screaming, then there was a gunshot, then no screaming, and a dead black male. In one call, you can hear the screaming. The final caller revealed she saw someone in a white t-shirt on top of someone, but could not identify the race of the individual because it was dark.

Calls 4-6.

Nothing useful here. It almost got useful on the 4th call, but the dispatcher didn’t press for any further information.

Call 7.

Totally useless. I’ll do you a favor and tell you not to even listen to this one.

The 911 tapes don’t really clear up anything. In cases like this, it’s going to be a matter of whether Zimmerman’s statement to police is contradicted by any witness statements. I’d really like to add I’m glad I don’t live in this neighborhood. If I hear someone outside my home screaming for help, I’m going outside to see what’s going on. If it’s dark, I grab a flashlight.Â At the least I’m going to be a witness, and be able to give police useful information. This is an example of the complete extinction of civic virtue in our society. Because no one was willing to even look when someone was screaming for help, if Zimmerman is a murderer, he’s likely going to get away with it.

UPDATE Here’s a Google Earth view of the neighborhood this took place in. I’m guessing, based on descriptions given to 911, the scuffle and eventual shooting happened on along that lake. You can see the path between the townhouses that Zimmerman likely used to pursue Martin.

Blogger to Author

Wyatt Earp from Support Your Local Gunfighter has taken the plunge on being the latest blogger to go from blogger to author, with a book “Only Son“, which he co-wrote with Pamela Meister. You can buy it now from Create Space, but a Kindle version is in the works.