Sebastian – Page 562 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Assault Clips

I’m thinking of a little Photoshop play on the Brady’s new term might be in order for folks out there who have mad Photoshop skills. Clearly the creativity department at the Brady Campaign and Brady Center are running a bit lean these days. I thought Mass Murder Magazines was actually a better term, but assault clips it is. So here’s some ideas I have, but don’t have the artistic skill to create:

Kind of like the Microsoft paper clip, but threatening in some way. Like he’s going to assault you.
Some menacing variation on a clipboard that looks scary and dangerous.
Know those things you use to hold bags of potato chips closed? Those can cut a leg clean open, I’m telling you.
Tie clips. Nuff said.

Assault weapon was an invented term, but albeit one loosely related to assault rifle, which is a real term. Assault clip is pretty unashamedly conversion of what’s normally the noun or verb “assault” to use as an adjective to make whatever object seem like something scary that needs to be banned. Also amusing they aren’t even modifying the proper noun in this case, which would be “assault magazine,” though they probably figured that would bring to mind a publication with unusually strong paper edges, making for deeper paper cuts in the minds of the uninitiated. This isn’t about correctness or truth, after all, when there are guns to be banned.

Submit any further ideas or photoshopped work in the comments.

Those NRA Terrorists

Josh Horwitz is at it again, trying to paint NRA as a bunch of militia crazies because Don Young, Congressman from Alaska, has apparently been seen with someone who later turned out to be a sovereign citizen militia whacko. The entire evidence of this is seen here, showing Young in some sort of fast food establishment talking to what he probably thinks is some kind of tea party-like Second Amendment group. I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest Cox probably wasn’t going off about fringed flags and admiralty courts in front of the Congressman. I’m going to go out on another limb here and suggest you probably can’t swing a dead cat in Alaska without hitting some kind of Second Amendment group, and that politicians aren’t going to vet the leadership of every single one before speaking to them.Â Alaska is not a populous state, yet they have two representatives on the NRA Board. That should speak to the dedication of the average Alaskan to Second Amendment rights.

Speaking of the other NRA Board member, Wayne Anthony Ross (WAR, for short), CSGV levels poorly substantiated charges of racism and sexism. The sexism charge is particularly odd, since Ross broke ranks with NRA to endorse Sarah Palin for Governor, against the male incumbent. Odd for a guy who apparently thinks poorly of women. That, ironically, is what had everyone digging for anything WAR had ever written, including a defense of freedom of expression, penned twenty years ago, which has been twisted into evidence of racism.

This is a sad accusation by a group that is out of influence, and will soon be out of money.

Brady Ad on “Assault Clips”

I’m not sure what money they found to make this ad. I’m really not sure what money they will find to run it:

ABC is reporting:

The Brady Campaign, an advocacy group for stricter gun laws, will release a 30-second television ad today urging the President and Congress to ban assault clips. The group is teaming up with the Kelly Oâ€™Brien, the fiancÃ©e of Rep. Gabrielle Giffordsâ€™ Congressional staffer, Gabe Zimmerman, who was killed in Januaryâ€™s shooting rampage in Tucson. Oâ€™Brien will be on Capitol Hill today to pledge support for legislation to ban assault clips like the one Tucson gunman Jared Lee Loughner used to kill six and injure 13.

So it would seem they have intentions to air this on television, but to be effective they are going to have to target their strongholds in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, all of which areÂ very expensive media markets. As of 2008, the Brady Campaign was down to 381,668 dollars total in assets, after having to swallow an 838,000 dollar loss that year. I can’t imagine their finances improved with the financial crisis.

I know many of my readers are in the New York City media market, so if you see this ad, let me know. That would be indication the Brady Campaign has come into money since 2008, that someone else is fronting money to run the ads, or stations are donating the time. We need to know so we can properly identify who our opponents are.

Suppressors Legal in Washington State

Good news. Given this has passed in a few other states, I think we may be able to officially declare this a movement. Of course, not that many states restrict suppressors. I now have hope that maybe we can get them unregulated federally. I can tell you that this would be a huge boon for suburban outdoor ranges which have noise problems.

Why Newsweek is a Rag

Articles like this, about just how much Japan can take, is one of the many reasons I find Newsweek an insufferable publication:

The simple fact is that the Japanese archipelago is no stranger to cataclysmic events. Over time, the Japanese have endured more than their share of devastating natural disasters. As a people, they have always coped remarkably wellâ€”so well, in fact, we are left wondering if there isnâ€™t something especially resilient about them. In fact, the Japanese are the only people on this planet to fully confront the horror of nuclear destruction, and to survive it. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of World War II has become the archetypal nightmare of our time. Strangely, those events share some striking similarities with the recent compound disaster.

And what is the alternative? Has there ever been a situation in the history of mankind where a people have just declared “F*** it!” and collectively hurled themselves off cliffs? We survive because it beats the alternative. It’s a pretty simple equation and there’s nothing magical about it.

I suppose in the Newsweek world, they could all just up and decide to move somewhere else; that perhaps national despair need not rise to the level of seppuku. But can they name any land mass that doesn’t float on a sea of molten rock? Any place where mother Gaia isn’t regularly hatching schemes to screw the human race? I don’t know if anyone in the Newsweek newsroom has noticed, but we live on a planet that’s been trying to kill us most of our evolutionary history. How much can the Japanese take? How much can anyone take? People will survive because they want to live. Only Newsweek could make news out of something this trite.

Shooting “Un-Dutch”

As if they are supposed to somehow be immune to the predations of whack jobs:

Dutch churches held memorial services for the victims on Sunday as the media analysed the “un-Dutch” nature of the shooting, which they said was more common in countries like the United States.

“An un-Dutch drama,” the NOS public broadcaster labelled the killing.

But disaster management professor Eelco Dykstra told the station: “This type of thing can happen anywhere.”

If one counted the number of mass shootings proportional to country size, Europe “is more affected than America,” he said.

They seem surprised their gun laws didn’t work. To tell the truth, if there was any type of crime one would think gun control would have any logical possibility of stopping, it would be this type. Unlike gang members, mobsters, and drug dealers, random whack jobs aren’t likely to have too many black market connections, and one would think are more likely to need to rely on legal channels. But yet we have seen this is not necessarily the case. It happens countries with very strict gun laws, as in Brazil, Germany, and now the Netherlands.

Nonetheless, my prediction is that the Dutch will restrict firearms even further, and pretend to have dealt with the problem. The mass delusion that these laws work will continue until the next incident, when the ratchet will be tightened even further.

Castle Doctrine Possibly Delayed

Since it’s passage is largely inevitable, we’re probably going to be delayed a bit why everyone tries to get their due credit for getting the legislation passed. I’m generally fine with this, as long as it gets done. Some of our friends in the legislature who have gone out on a limb for this bill shouldn’t feel shut out of the final passage.

The Brazil Shooting

I’ve been watching our opponents work themselves up over the whole mass shooting in Brazil, and beating the cause of gun control. The problem is that if that incident says anything, it’s that strict gun control laws don’t stop this kind of thing. Brazil completely prohibits semi-automatic rifles. Pistols must be a caliber of no greater than .38 Special. Handguns are strictly licensed and registered. Owners must be 25 years old or older. There are limits on how many guns you may own. You can see a summary of Brazilian laws here.

Yet to some this means we need to try more gun control here. Brazil’s laws are a gun control advocates dream. They are well beyond anything that would be politically achievable in the United States. But yet we must still try something. Because if we do, the unicorns will fart a few more rainbows and surely less people are going to die by gunfire. Take their word for it. Ignore the fact that there’s no evidence it works.

Lucky Gunner Blogger Shoot

The fine folks at Lucky Gunner seem to have quite the event planned. I am told there will be tanks and artillery. This should be a good time. Apparently interest in this event among gun bloggers is quite high. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I am planning to go.

Posting Will Be Light Today

Bitter was in an accident on the way home from dropping me off at work (I left my car there for the weekend. Long story). She’s fine, but this will be the second tailgate we’ve replaced on this vehicle:

Unfortunately, my coworkers and I have to give a very important, potentially company saving presentation today, and so I can’t exactly just go home. But I plan to as soon as it’s all over so we can get the car into a shop and get the repair process started. I guess we’re also going to need to rent a car too.

BTW, what a strange world we live in when I can get a live pictorial update from the accident scene. Apparently someone switched lanes without checking, causing Bitter to slam on her brakes to avoid hitting him, and in the process a truck hit her from behind. Truck is at fault for following too closely, but the cop said the trucks insurance will probably blame the guy who switched lanes without checking. I don’t care who’s to blame as long as someone else pays for the damage.

UPDATE: I have taped up the window, and stuffed as much plastic material into the area around the broken door seal as I could. Hopefully it’ll keep the majority of the water out of the interior if it rains. Seems she was hit by a fish truck, which is kind of ironic since she was on her way to stock up on fish for our freezer. I should call the fish company and tell them I won’t sue if they send me some.