Sebastian – Page 576 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Rebuffed?

â€œWhy should I or the N.R.A. go sit down with a group of people that have spent a lifetime trying to destroy the Second Amendment in the United States?â€ saidÂ Wayne LaPierre, the longtime chief executive of theÂ National Rifle Association.

There really isn’t any reason to sit down with the Administration unless the conversation is “What are you going to do for us?” Maybe then gun owners can talk turkey with Obama. But until then, what is there to talk about? Any legislation coming forward can be blocked by Congress.

The only card Obama really has is that he could come out in favor of gun control and push it in a big way. This is actually more of a threat than I would like it to be, but it I wouldn’t view it as much of one. Congress is not likely to be in the mood, and with promises that Obama made to some Democrats, like John Tester, Bob Casey, or any number of Democrats in red states that are up in 2012, this could easily play against Obama.

Live Fire Tests

Jason tells me we’ve gotten to the point in the magazine project where we’re ready for a live fire test. There’s only one problem: we need a place where we can both shoot and film. There’s a range near us that allows full-auto, but it does not allow cameras or recording equipment, I’m guessing because of people’s tendency to do stupid things with guns when cameras are turned on them. At my club, we could film, but we couldn’t fill the magazine, and definitely could not shoot the machine pistol on full auto. So I need somewhere within 20 or so miles of Philadelphia that will allow full auto and for the experiment to be filmed for posterity. Anyone know of such a place?

More on the Obama Statement

Says Dave Hardy:

In the meantime, Paul Helmke of Brady Campaign calls the hint “the most significant statement any president has made on gun violence in over a decade,” with no apparent awareness of just pitiful that sounds.

Is he including Bush’s half-hearted murmurings about renewing the assault weapons ban? I don’t even know if we can get Barry to say “assault weapon,” let alone suggesting we ban them. Of course, if you look at the Brady home page, now they’re all about assault clips. I can imagine if you threw one of these at me hard enough, it might kinda hurt.

Good Castle Doctrine Editorial

From the Patriot News, even going so far as to point out a case of aggravated assault where Castle Doctrine wouldn’t come into play. To hear some in the media tell it, this bill makes it easy to just shoot people. Another case that wouldn’t be helped by Castle Doctrine? Gerald Ung. Even if it eliminated the duty to retreat when facing an unarmed opponent(s), which it doesn’t, the prosecution never made the case that Ung violated a duty to retreat.

Pennsylvania Anti-TSA Bill

Not to be outdone by New Jersey, a bill has been introduced in the Pennsylvania House to criminalize the TSA nude-o-scope and grope. Now, apparently, with 10x the radiation, absolutely free!

You Remember the Guy that Paid $1 for Newsweek?

I think he got ripped off.

Like You and Me, Only Better

California lawmakers want to be able to carry concealed weapons. But many who do, don’t want you to be able to enjoy the same rights and privileges they do. I wonder how the Second Amendment is worded in their world.

Statement from the Bradys

“We’re just going to pretend you said you were cool with our agenda, Barry!” They kind of have to look at the bright side of things. They don’t have much else to bitterly cling to.

Meltdown?

Hearing reporting that the last explosion took out the pumps that could bring seawater into the reactor vessel, meaning the cores are or will eventually be uncovered. This means a meltdown is only really a matter of time. This has happened twice before at Three Mile Island, where the secondary containment held the core and very little contamination of the site occurred, and Chernobyl where the reactor blew up, caught on fire, and spread radiation through half a continent and contaminated an area the size of New Jersey. This should be more like a TMI event, though the damage here is going to be measured in billions of dollars to clean up the mess even if it’s limited to the site, which it should be.

More on Japanese Reactor Woes

“Why I’m Not Worried About Japan’s Nuclear Reactors”

I am writing this text (Mar 12) to give you some peace of mind regarding some of the troubles in Japan, that is the safety of Japanâ€™s nuclear reactors. Up front, the situation is serious, but under control. And this text is long! But you will know more about nuclear power plants after reading it than all journalists on this planet put together.

Read the whole thing.