As Dave Hardy mentioned over on his blog, Saul Cornell published a law review in response to Dave’s earlier review article on the lecture notes of St. George Tucker. I’m not sure what’s more amusing, the degree Cornell is willing to go to ignore or downplay Tucker’s blatant reference to self-defense in regard to the Second Amendment, or the fact that we now have liberal scholars lecturing conservatives on not being good originalists!
Author: Sebastian
Air Gun Silhouette Tomorrow
Outdoor air rifle and air pistol silhouette begins tomorrow. Got in a bit of practice today. It’s good be shooting outside again. Speaking of shooting outside, the gun blogger winter match for our rifle league ends next weekend. In addition to that, Mr. Completely has started up the next season of E-Postal matches. There’s something for everyone, whether you’re a rifle or pistol shooter.
UPDATE: 20 and 24, which is a AA and AAA score respectively. Would have been nice to have two AAA scores, but the temperature dropped from when I sighted in yesterday, so I bombed the first bank of chickens. CO2 guns are, unfortunately, rather sensitive to temperature.
Busy Beavers
DoD Destroying Brass
This isn’t good news for reloaders. Check out this article from Maine Hunting Today.
Recently it has been determined that fired munitions of all calibers, shapes and sizes have been designated to be Demil code B. As a result and in conjunction with DLA’s current Demil code B policy, this notice will serve as official notification which requires Scrap Venture (SV) to implement mutilation as a condition of sale for all sales of fired munitions effective immediately. This notice also requires SV to immediately cease delivery of any fired munitions that have been recently sold or on active term contracts, unless the material has been mutilated prior to sale or SV personnel can attest to the mutilation after delivery. A certificate of destruction is required in either case.
It’s bad enough Clinton screwed us out of surplus ammo. Now it appears Obama will screw us out of even the components. Brass is already scarce enough without this. See the whole thing.
Gun Nutty Mailbox
I don’t know if I’m enough of a gun nut to display it this publicly, but I have to admit it’s pretty cool.
How You Know We’re Winning?
The New York Times does a positive story on the increasing popularity of biathlon, even though they get something wrong:
The biggest challenge of the sport is the abrupt switch between disciplines: going all out on skis, and then stopping, catching one’s breath and calming one’s nerves for the precision of using a rifle for target shooting. It’s believed to have its origins in hunting, which, in snowy Northern European climes, required just that switch from fast skiing to steady shooting.
They are right about the challenge, but biathlon has nothing to do with hunting. It’s actually, at root, a practical shooting discipline that has its origins with the Norwegian military. The rifles have evolved well beyond that, but being able to go from skiing to shooting is a soldier’s game, not a hunter’s.
Blogoversaries
Firearms and Freedom finishes out its first year. MArooned is two.
Smith & Wesson Beats the Street
They earned three cents more per share than analyists were expecting.
“While our hunting business continues to suffer in the current economic environment, the market for hunting rifles in a healthy economy is a sizeable one,” said Michael F. Golden, president and chief executive. “In addition, this portion of our business produces barrels for our tactical rifles, products that are clearly in very high demand right now.”
I think Mike Golden owes the White House a fruit basket for being such an effective gun salesman.
Labor Negotiations in France
Interesting how they do things in France:
The chief executive of Sony in France was freed today after being held hostage overnight by workers practicing an increasing common negotiating tactic amid growing industrial unrest in France.
Serge Foucher and Roland Bentz, director of human resources, had been prevented from leaving the Sony factory in Pontoux-sur-l’Adrour in south-west France following a protest over redundancy payments.
I don’t know about France, but it’s lawful in the United States to use deadly force on kidnappers. If I were the workers at, say, Smith & Wesson, I don’t think I’d try this negotiating tactic. Management may very well, as Marko said, reject “an unacceptably termed business proposition.”
I’m surprised the French authorities tolerate this practice.
Common Sense out of Germany
The German Interior Minister seems to have more common sense than a lot of our politicians. See the interview here:
Some German politicians have called for a ban on private gun ownership and urged authorities to set up airport-style security systems at schools in response to the massacre, which left 16 people dead, including the killer.
“I can’t see how a change in weapons rules would contribute anything to solving the problem,” Schaeuble, an ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, told Reuters.
In response to setting up airport style security at schools?
“Do we now want to treat pupils like passengers at the airport? Imagine the effect on children growing up under such circumstances. It’s absurd! I think it wouldn’t help us at all.”
Vielen Dank, Herr Schaeuble. The world needs your common sense during times like this.