Category: Guns

Good Luck, But I’m Not Optimistic

Looks like MSSA and SAF are getting ready to go to court over the Montana Firearms Freedom Act:

“If a gun is made in Montana and stays in Montana, it isn’t engaging in interstate commerce,” said Alan Gottlieb, of the Second Amendment Foundation. “The federal government really should butt out.”

At issue is the Montana Firearms Freedom Act, which passed the 2009 Legislature and was signed into law by Gov. Brian Schweitzer. That law states that guns, ammunition and certain gun parts manufactured and used in Montana are not subject to federal gun laws.

No doubt they will try to distinguish their case from Raich, but I doubt the courts will bite.  There was a successful case involving a home made machine gun, US v. Stewart, that had prevailed in the 9th circuit, which Montana resides in.  The Supreme Court vacated the ruling and remanded it for reconsideration in light of Raich.  That to me speaks strongly that the Supreme Court views Raich as applying to unregistered machine guns just as readily as state-approved medical marijuana.

As much as I wish this really had legs, it looks to me more like SAF and MSSA boosting their pro-gun bonafides, than a serious legal challenge.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Showdown with the Feds
  2. Prediction on Montana Lawsuit
  3. Supreme Dictator

Beyond Thunderdome

Marko has a really good post on what those who propose civilians be disarmed are really proposing.  Along the lines of Marko’s oft-plagarized tome Why The Gun is Civilization, which is variously attributed to retired majors, small children, squirrels, and squirrely gun training center owners all around the country.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. New Handgun Sniper Threat
  2. Drop the Squirrel! Drop it Now!
  3. Insights Training New Media Effort

Wiley Responds to Frommer Controversy

Statement here from the publisher of Frommer’s guides, on the blog post we spoke about before.  Summary seems to be “He has a right to his opinion, it’s not necessary ours, now go away you crazy gun nuts.  And oh, by the way, Love ya Arizona!”   I agree the guy has a right to his own opinion.  I just thought it was a very ignorant opinion, that revealed a great naivety about life in the rest of the country, which is pretty incredible from a guy who is known for travel guides.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Travel Guide for Hoplophobes
  2. Quote of the Day
  3. Frommer’s Travel Guide Advocating AZ Boycott?

Go-Pants

Defensive Handgun Blog talks about some pants Robb actually might want to wear:

What are Go-Pants? Somewhere in between not being armed and strapping on a tactical vest and an AR-15 to survive the zombiepocalypse is a useful set of tools to deal with the problems that present themselves on a more regular basis.

Interesting concept.  Personally, I wouldn’t answer to the door for someone I wasn’t expecting or didn’t know if I didn’t already have a pistol in arms reach.  I don’t have a set of Go-Pants.  If I’m expecting trouble, I have a go rifle.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Sweet Sixteen
  2. Answering the Door
  3. Not Just Good Advice for Kids

Caught HSUS Astroturfing

The Humane Society of the United States, not to be confused with your local animal shelter, is apparently not above astroturfing.  In my previous thread on the ban on preserve hunting they are pushing in North Dakota, I got engaged in a conversation with a person claiming to be a hunter in the comments, until I noticed his what his IP address resolved to on ARIN.   Be careful out there folks.  These people are slick.  The person you’re speaking with claiming to be a hunter may very well be an animal rights activist trying to divide the community.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Less than 4 Percent
  2. HSUS Training Game Wardens
  3. More HSUS Astroturfing

Bound to Start an Argument

Having grown tired of the old controversy, why not drag out a new one.  American Rifleman publishes a list of the top ten handguns of all time.  Who could possibly take exception?

UPDATE: This guy’s list puts the Glock 17 on top.   I carry a Glock, and even I wouldn’t do that.  I’m happy to see the Luger make his list though.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Fourth Generation Glock
  2. Reloads and Backup Guns
  3. Law Abiding Gun Owner

The DGU Numbers

MikeB points to a recent bulletin in the Harvard Injury Control Research Center (Joyce Funded), suggesting that criminal use far exceeds civilian defensive gun use.  It’s really a difficult number to come up with, because there doesn’t seem to be much good data on the amount of unreported crime.  But just looking at some bare statistics, you have approximately 2.2 million residential burlaries a year, of which about 20 percent will be done while the resident is home.   Presumably about 40% of those households will have guns.  If you figure even half of those households have residents who become aware of the breakin, that’s 88,000 DGUs right there.

But either way, some of the conclusions in this bulleten are pretty sweeping, like this:

By contrast it appears that the large majority of the self-defense gun uses reported using Approach 1 are socially undesirable; they are largely escalating arguments, or preemptive gun use out of fear rather than a response to an attempted crime. Most would appropriately be missed by Approach 2, and should not be considered genuine self-defense gun uses. They are actually reports of inappropriate or criminal gun use.

So basically, after arguing that there’s quite a lot of self-presentaiton bias, which is true, we’re going to conclude that just about any DGU reported by Kleck’s method is socially undesirable, and therefore should be considered criminal use.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Interview with Gary Kleck
  2. Open Carry Activist Charged
  3. More BS From Philadelphia Media