Guns – Page 835 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Halbrook Testifies Against Holder

Steven Halbrook, one of the leading Second Amendment attorneys, has testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee against the nomination of Eric Holder.

Continuing to reveal Holder as a staunch opponent of the Second Amendment, Halbrook concludes, “Eric Holder has taken a constricted view of Second Amendment rights. Millions of law-abiding Americans exercise the right to keep and bear arms. Mr. Holder’s opinion is that the people have no such right unless they are commanded to exercise it in a formal militia, which renders the right meaningless… Many Americans have reason to be uneasy about Mr. Holder’s nomination for Attorney General. They deserve to have a person in this role who is committed to upholding all parts of the Constitution, including the Second Amendment. Unfortunately, Mr. Holder has proven himself not to be that person.”

Halbrook is a research fellow at the Independent Institute, and author of The Founder’s Second Amendment.

UPDATE: Halbrook is actually testifying now, on C-SPAN.Â (Finished around noon)

Pro-Gun Progressive on NRA President Sigler

Looks like the other Sebastian had lunch with one of the “Lairds of Fairfax” as they are being called in some circles, and discovers he’s concerned about infighting:

He stressed that infighting between various RKBA groups was way more dangerous to the 2A than the Bradys could ever be; the Tripwire effect (pernicious infighting and putting self-aggrandizement in front of political success has the potential to be our achilles heel).

I think he’s right, but I’m not sure that problem can really be fixed.Â There will be disagreements as to tactics, no matter what you do, and you can’t expect everyone to agree with you all the time.Â There will be disagreement.Â That much I can accept.Â But the nature of the disagreements often goes beyond polite and civil differences of opinion and into a nasty disposition toward others on the same side that is appalling.

I’ve expressed in many posts my disagreement with NRA on their pushing the workplace parking lot carry bills in various states, argued it’s a contraction of freedom, and is diverting resources from other, more important matters.Â What I won’t do, is repeatedly criticize NRA leadership and staffers because they have a different point of view than I do.Â Since I’ve started blogging, and getting more involved, I’ve met a lot of people who work in Fairfax, and know a few board members, some of them fairly well.Â I’ve had a few conversations with Chris Cox, and have talked briefly with Wayne LaPierre. I have never had any cause to question their dedication to preserving the Second Amendment.Â Most of the staff are getting paid far less than they would in a for-profit operation for doing the same job, and for the board members, they don’t get paid anything for having to give up nearly a month out of the year to tend to NRA functions.

NRA is far from perfect, and there are many problems with the Association which I think hurt their effectiveness.Â Like any organization, there are going to be some people who have issues, and who don’t always act in the best interests of the Association or the movement.Â But you have two choices in dealing with that, you can either throw stones through the windows from the outside, or you can engage NRA like the civic organization it actually is, and try to fix the problems you see as an engaged member.Â The former is easy, but the latter is difficult, and requires an understanding that you are one voice of many, and one point of view of many.Â It also involves helping NRA carry out its mission, sometimes even on things you might not privately agree with.

No pro-gun organization or its leadership should be absolutely above criticism.Â I’ve certainly had my share of criticism for GOA and Larry Pratt, especially when I see them publicly attacking other gun rights organizations, or people in the movement doing good work.Â But I don’t doubt that Larry Pratt cares about the Second Amendment, and charts his course based on that conviction.Â I agree with John Sigler that we ought not to form a circular firing squad.Â You will not often see NRA criticizing other pro-gun groups publicly.Â This is by design, and not by accident.Â We can argue about tactics, strategy, and the merits and problems with this bill or that bill until we’re blue in the face, but we should have an awful prejudice against questioning other people’s integrity or motivations.Â It’ll happen sometimes — we’re all human, and passionate about the issue — but that should be an exception, and not a rule.

SHOT Slow Down

There are now two reports out that the first day of SHOT seemed to be much slower than years past.Â Interesting.

I’ll be curious to know what today is like.Â Did folks just want to shave a day off of travel to save a few bucks?Â Or, are they doing such brisk business at home that they are trying to minimize time away?Â Or, is it because all the distributors and companies are so backordered with current products that they just don’t see much of a need to go play with the new?

There are so many possibilities.Â If you know someone in the industry who isn’t going to SHOT this year, or has shortened their time at the event, what is their reason for cutting attendance this year?

Holder on Guns: “Options Significantly Narrowed”

Eric Holder seems to have told Senators that his options to fight for gun control has significantly narrowed:

Attorney General-designate Eric Holder conceded during his confirmation hearing Thursday that the government’s options for regulating the possession of firearms have been narrowed in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2008 ruling that the Second Amendment ensures an individual right to bear arms.

“Reasonable restrictions are still possible,” Holder said, including measures such as a ban on the sale of what are called “cop-killer” bullets.

I doubt any of our fair senators were gunny enough to ask him exactly what a “cop-killer” bullet was?Â I mean, any bullet can kill a cop if there’s a dirtbag shooting at him.Â In truth I doubt Eric Holder has any idea what a cop-killer bullet is, other than the fiction he’s seen in movies.

Grenades, Machine Guns, and Rockets, Oh My!

SayUncle points out that not everyone who is a foreign policy expert is an expert in arms control laws, as one “expert” claims that people are buying grenades, rockets, and machine guns in thousands of US gun shops just across the border.Â You’d almost think someone was organizing a media campaign to take advantage of Americans’ ignorance of their own laws or something.

Cooper Firearms Sold?

The Firearms Blog is reporting a rumor that Cooper Firearms of Montana has been sold to Wilson.Â I wish all the employees of Cooper the best of luck with the new owners.Â They were unfortunate pawns in the election scandal last year.Â Hopefully the buyout will let these folks put this unpleasantness behind them, and go back to focusing on making great guns.

Be Still My Beating Heart for Browning

Every once in a while I am shocked and left speechless. After researching so many failed opportunities to really harness new media, Browning’s presence is like a beacon of light shining out of a computer monitor onto the floor of SHOT.

And no, I’m not just saying that because I’m in love with the Cynergy. I’m setting my Cynergy love aside for this review.

browninglogo First, I decided to check out Browning after reading The Hog Blog’s review of their new Maxus shotgun from Media Day. I wondered if they even had anything on their website about this new gun now that fans were talking about shooting it. Seems kind of important when it comes to media, yet so many seem to fail at this simple task. If you have people talking about it, make sure they can come to you as the producer and get details so they can make the decision on whether they want to buy it when it is out on the gun store racks.

Score! Browning has the information right on their front page. Even better? It’s under a link to a blog that’s being run during SHOT Show with actual live updates from the floor. I believe my words, upon seeing an actual updated real life inspired post, were inspired by Heeding God’s Call: Holy crap!

More importantly, even though they announced their new gun back in November, Browning realizes that writers will start talking about their product now that they have it in hand. Since that starts with SHOT, they made sure that release was still on the front page. Even better, if you’re really interested in this new line, it’s easy to sign up to get more information from Browning as the product rolls out this year. Customers, they are a good thing!

But the good news on new media integration doesn’t end there for Browning. Remember how I highlighted Facebook groups for Ruger that had self-identified customers and nothing was posted about their new rifles and handguns? Browning is so ahead of that curve.

There’s the official Browning page which 2,125 fans, posts started on the discussion board by Browning staff about what customers want from their social networking outreach, an announcement about their own SHOT coverage, fans bragging about looking forward to the new gun, videos, and photos. It does look like postings by Browning are a little sparse, but hopefully that will improve.

I would suggest that Browning bring the 30 fans of the John M. Browning page in on the fun. Maybe join that group and add some fun facts or engage it a little more. It’s a small group, but they are folks who obviously love the man and hopefully the products still produced under his namesake.

However, it’s interesting that Browning opted to start a page instead of a group. It doesn’t appear that they are adding applications to it, but maybe they valued the tracking abilities over the higher profile personal messaging benefits of groups.

The Browning Group (704 members) and Browning-The Best There Is Group (550 members) don’t have any posts or news at all. While I understand that Browning has an official page, I don’t think that it’s worthwhile to write 1,254 members of other groups off.

In addition to mixed results on social networking attempts, the attempt to do and share video gets a “meh” reaction out of me. Maybe it’s because I’ve been so terribly disillusioned by Ruger’s failed attempt at something real, and I should rank Browning’s at a slightly better rating of “it’s there, but not quite right.”

Featured prominently on Browning’s SHOT blog is a video link. They have a small little video player that has, as of “press” time, five videos showcasing products actually on the floor there at SHOT. Four are about other products, and one is actual footage from Media Day. However, none of these videos can be shared or posted. If I wanted to share their video about the absolutely gorgeous John Moses Browning Signature Gun Case with a friend who might be interested, I can’t do that easily. I would have to tell them to go to the video page and find it, something that will become much harder once they upload more videos.

The Colosimo 5

Based on the criminal dockets of our five clergy, who are by now certainly hoping to be forgiven for their trespasses, some are being charged with more than defiant trespass.Â Let us now open to the book of “court”, chapter “docket”, verse “summary” and read the great words:

Going a bit far?Â Maybe.Â But consider these people set out for headlines, in order to smear a man’s reputation and destroy his business.Â They are trying to intimidate him into turning on his customers.Â So for these five, I am happy to lend my Google-fu to making sure anyone who searches on them finds their arrest record.

Yitzhak Nates, Melissa Delong, and and Isaac Miller are being charged with three counts.

Defiant Trespassing Posted, Third Degree Misdemeanor
Criminal Conspiracy to engage in Defiant Trespass, Third Degree Misdemeanor
Disorderly Conduct, Third Degree Misdemeanor if defiant, Summary offense otherwise.

Mimi Copp and Phil Jones are only being charged with Defiant Trespassing.Â I guess sometimes it pays to be a follower rather than a leader. Now, I would note these folks are innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law, but is Colosimo really enough of a bad guy to defecate on his property rights in such a manner?Â Generally it’s a bad idea to provoke a confrontation with police when the police are customers of the guy you’re protesting.

What Should Gun Makers Expect from Viral Content?

I’m a fan of managing expectations. I’d much rather under-promise and over-deliver. I also don’t believe in doing something just to say you did it, just to add another metric that means nothing to some final report.

Since I’m talking about new media at SHOT, I thought I would throw out this quote on the meaning of “viral” when folks think about online efforts.

Thatâ€™s why if a client says, â€œwe want to create a viral video,â€ my first question will usually be, â€œwhat do you mean by viral?â€ If it turns out that their goal is to create compelling content that people in their targeted audience will WANT to send to their friends and family, then weâ€™re off in the right direction. But if they really mean, â€œwe want to create a video that will become immensely popular and spread like wildfire and everyone will see it,â€ weâ€™ve got some â€™splaining to do.

Because nobody can really predict whether or not a given piece of video or writing will take off like crazy, and there are a lot of people trying to make it happen. Itâ€™s a question of timing, content and opportunity thatâ€™s inherently chaotic, and hundreds or thousands of viral attempts fail for every one that gets seen by enough people to hit the bigtime â€” say, to get promoted to the top of YouTube or picked up on tv. Itâ€™s so remote a possibility that it may not even be worth aiming for, other than for fun.

But, good content CAN spread widely to targeted audiences through viral channels, regardless of whether or not it breaks out to a larger/mass audience.

This is much like what I said yesterday about the potential of Ruger’s video efforts. I would never expect them to go viral in the way most people think of viral. But, it would be worth it for them to re-think their efforts so that their current and most dedicated customers could pass around content they find informative and interesting.Â And it would be good if they actually produced material on site and posted it timely.Â But that’s another issue.

5 Arrested Outside of Colosimo’s

The clergy group that was lead the other day by Right Reverend Bryan Miller apparently heeded God’s call to defiantly trespass on the property of another:

Supporters outside the store’s entrance applauded and thanked protesters as police carted them off, one by one, in handcuffs.

“You couldn’t talk them out of getting locked up,” said Lt. Joseph O’Brien, of the Civil Affairs Unit. “Usually you could talk them out of it.”

Others weren’t so impressed.

“It’s trespassing,” said Capt. William Fisher. “I gave them three warnings to protest on the sidewalk.

“They feel they have an issue and they feel this is how they can get the most attention,” he said.

The demonstrators spent the night in jail and are facing charges of defiant trespassing.

You know what me, the evil gun owner has never been arrested for?Â If you guessed a third degree misdemeanor, you’d be correct.Â Here’s an interesting thing, the headline says five were arrested:

Other activists who were arrested and charged yesterday include the Rev. Isaac Miller, of the Church of the Advocate, Rabbi Yitzhak Nates, of Narberth Havurah, Mimi Copp, 34, of the Circle of Hope Church and Melissa DeLong, 28, of Camden.

Let me see, that’s one, two, three, four.Â Who was the first activist arrested?Â Did I miss something?Â Was it Bryan Miller and they conviently forgot to tell us?Â I doubt Bryan is that stupid, but we’ll look into this for sure!

UPDATE: Nope… Not Bryan Miller.Â That would have been too good.