Apparently up 10% this year. I wouldn’t be surprised, though, to find that a lot of this increase is due to higher ammunition prices. I’m really curious how the companies that manufacture reloading gear and supplies are doing.
Category: Guns
NRA Gets Involved in Dem Primary
Well, it’s not an endorsement, but the NRA appears to be preparing to do a mailing for Bill Richardson. Good! Richardson is the only Democrat in this race who has done good things for us. I doubt this will push him over the top, but I think Richardson has, so far, been running a brilliant campaign for Vice President.
Zendo Deb Responds to Bryan
Zendo Deb isn’t happy with Bryan Miller putting words and sentiments into her mouth.
Getting Hunters on Board
Conservative UAW guy is displaying a fantastic poster by Oleg Volk that I think is one of the best ways I’ve seen to help explain to hunters the importance of this fight.  I hadn’t seen this one before.
In the Name of Reasoned Discourse
Thirdpower gets his comment deleted over at Bryan’s blog because it was an attack on a CeaseFire PA board member that he says isn’t germane to his post.
Well, folks, it’s Bryan’s sandbox, so you play by his rules. But I note it’s always the anti-gunners that like to delete comments. I won’t generally do that here, except for threats or truly vile statements. I can count on one hand the number of comments I’ve deleted. You’ll note I didn’t delete any of Jadegold’s musings, even when he attacked NRA leaders like Harlan Carter or Jeff Cooper. Anyone is free to disagree with me, or make outlandish accusations, but on blogs, we ferret out the truth. The anti-gunners ferret out the comments because the truth isn’t, and has never been on their side.
The Notorious Triangle of Death
Looks like the American Red Cross is the most recognized organization, but look at this:
Consumer Reports was the next most-familiar organization, followed by the AARP and then the National Rifle Association.
Take that Brady Campaign!
The most-powerful group was the labor union AFL-CIO, netting 84 percent, narrowly topping the National Rifle Association, which garnered 83 percent of respondents who said they believed the group had at least a fair amount power.
That’s sure to make Peter Hamm choke on his Christmas ham.
Taking South
Since we’re going to have a mini informal blogger shooting event in Knoxville, I have to decide on a few rifles to take South. Coal Creek is an indoor range, so I’m limited to pistol calibers. I don’t have much that shoots that, so it’s narrowed down. Here’s what I’m taking:
- Hi-Point 995 Carbine w/ optics & laser sight
- Glock 19. This is my American Express gun. I don’t leave home without it.
- Ruger Mk.III Hunter 22/45 w/ holographic sight
- Ruger 10/22. I’ve un-EBR’d it because it’s actually not too conducive to shooting silhouette in that configuration.
- AR-15 Carbine. I can’t shoot this at Coal Creek, but here at Snowflakes in Hell, we don’t believe in traveling without a proper rifle.
The only other firearm I’m pondering is the S&W 629 Classic. It’s an awful lot of fun to shoot .44 magnum, but it’s an awful lot of expensive too.
More on New Jersey Bills
Looks like we’ve managed to make a these bills a bit less onerous, but it’s still critical to defeat them. One thing I’d like to point out:
S2470, sponsored by State Senator Shirley Turner (D-15), as originally written, would have criminalized the transfer of any ammunition to anyone who does not have a valid firearms purchaser identification card, a copy of a permit to purchase a handgun or a valid permit to carry a handgun. While intended to prevent criminals from obtaining ammunition, the legislation would only impact honest gun owners, since criminals are unlikely to purchase ammunition in New Jersey because of the mandatory reporting of all ammunition sales as required by state law.Â
Emphasis mine. Whoever drafted this has my thanks for helping feed the “Pennsylvania is to blame for our gun crime” monster that folks like Bryan Miller like to push. I doubt there’s a study that shows criminals are buying ammo out of state, so let’s just leave it at “criminals buy much of their ammo on the black market, and New Jersey already has this reporting requirement.”  Those of us in Pennsylvania would appreciate it.
Brady Campaign Originally Fought NICS
One interesting thing about the Brady’s being so happy about improving the NICS system is that at one time, they hated it, and fought it fiercely, because it supplanted their preferred method of gun control, which was to make you wait. Take a look at this press release from 1998, back when they were still called Handgun Control Inc:
The original Brady Law, which mandated a waiting period and background check for all handgun purchasers, was altered in the legislative process to sunset in favor of NICS, which relies on computerized federal data to immediately check prospective firearms purchasers for felony convictions and other barriers to purchase. Without a mandatory waiting period, local police departments will not have time to participate in the background check, and gun purchasers considering crimes of passion or impulse suicides will no longer have a “cooling-off” period to protect themselves or their victims.
Brady’s presumed that police officers were willing to conduct some imaginary, more thorough background check, that would take time. The fact is, the local police had access to what was in the systems, and probably not much more than that. Not to mention the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government couldn’t force the local police to conduct background checks, so most of those folks that ended up on their desks didn’t even get cursory glance.
After a 7-year battle in Congress, President Clinton signed the Brady Law on November 30, 1993, with the support of more than 90 percent of Americans. Unable to block passage of the legislation in the face of this tidal wave of public support, the gun lobby’s allies in Congress amended the legislation to require a mandatory “sunset” of the waiting period in five years, to be replaced by a computerized national instant check system. At the time, the Brady Law affected 32 states which had not developed their own background check system; now, five years later, 24 states will be making the transition from a waiting period to an instant check.
The horror! But now they seem to think NICS is the greatest thing since sliced bread. My how times have changed.
Bad Dealings in Nebraska
One type of mistake we can never afford to make as a movement is one where we let one group of shooters throw another group of shooters overboard.
Joe’s Crabby Shack has the latest on a bill being introduced in Nebraska that I think must be fought at all costs. They are apparently offering to trade an assault weapons ban for preemption, full reciprocity, and an elimination of the signage provisions.
I wouldn’t make that deal. Chances are, at some point, you’ll be able to get those CCW provisions anyway. It’s happened in a lot of other states that have passed CCW; it’s usually easy once you get the bill passed, and the sky doesn’t fall. You’re never going to repeal an assault weapons ban once it’s on the books. Never. It’s very very hard to get rid of legislation, even when most people would generally agree it’s worthless.
Be wary of these kinds of deals. It would be one thing to cut that if you have no hope of stopping the assault weapons ban, but I think Nebraska is in good enough shape that this ban, if introduced, can be outright defeated. It’s time for shooters in Nebraska to get organized. Make sure your memberships are up to date, and join your state organizations. You guys might be in for a bumpy ride. Just don’t get any ideas that throwing each other overboard is going to make it any smoother.
UPDATE: David highlights this too.  I would also point out that the fact that they are offering this deal up front, without backing gun owners up against a wall first, says they know this provision isn’t going very far without some kind of divide and conqueror strategy. It speaks to the weakness of the anti-gun position. If Nebraskans stick to their guns, there’s no reason they can’t defeat the assault weapons ban and get these promised CCW provisions.