Apparently the NRA and Democrats have come to a compromise solution on enforcing the Heller decision by reforming The Districts gun laws. The compromise bill will be introduced today. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear of it.
Category: Guns
Joe Horn Video Deposition
More on the Mole Incident
The entire mole affair was the subject of much discussion between Bitter and myself. The Bradys are predictably acting like jilted lovers, which is only understandable. Bitter predicted they would. I thought they’d keep quiet about it, since who wants to admit, in a public place, that you’ve been suckered. Bitter also thinks the information gleaned from this woman was probably worth whatever public relations price is going to be paid over the incident. Information about legislative strategy, for instance, can tell NRA where they need to spend money, and where they don’t, and what fights they might need to conserve resources for.
I remain uncomfortable with what happened here. I couldn’t do such a thing myself. But Bitter and I agree on one, key item. The Brady Campaign is dedicated to the elimination of one of the original ten amendments that comprise the Bill of Rights. In essence, they are a group out to undermine the Constitution of the United States, which is the very basis of our Republic. To accomplish that, they’ve willingly mislead the public about the nature of guns, and of gun owners, and willingly distorted and misrepresented facts and statistics. They have done the media equivalent of tar and feather us. Given that, is there really any tactic that’s too sleazy and too underhanded to use in order to defeat them?
Comp-Tac Kydex Reinforced Belt
I was in the market for a new belt, so I got myself a Kydex Reinforcd Countour Belt. First impressions are that it’s a very sturdy belt, that provides a lot of support for the gun. I’m using it with my Infidel holster, with the 1.5″ belt clip mounting option. There is one problem with this option.
The belt is pretty thick, so the Infidel clip has a hard time getting a good hold on the belt. There’s not quite enough space for the belt to come up all the way against the top of the clip. I almost spilled the gun out of it earlier tonight, because it managed to work its way almost off the belt. Needless to say, me getting up, and the gun staying on the chair, would be a minor problem in public.
I diagnosed that the clip could probably stand to have a bit more room up where the clip fastens on to the holster, so I added a washer between the holster and clip. This seems to have mitigated the problem. Comp-Tac might want to consider adding a spacer option to their product for people with thicker belts. Especially since their own belt seems to be thick enough to create this problem with the Infidel belt clip option.
Overall, Comp-Tac makes an excellent holster product, and I’ve always been pleased with the speed at which they get their products to their customers. The Smarties they ship with their products are a nice touch too. I’m very hard on holsters, and have broken a few of the Pro-Undercovers in my time, but so far the Infidel is a solid product.
UPDATE: It just occured to me what was really exacerbating this problem. I carry a 4:00, and wear LL Bean jeans. LL Bean puts their leather patch right at 4:00, which increases the thickness of the jeans greatly. Presumably removing the patch would also work, but I will still stand by my request for a spacer option to deal with the problem of thicker belts/clothing.
Why a Professional Web Presence is Important
Bitter leaves the snark behind this time and talks about why folks should care that NRA’s Camp Perry Live blog has been a disappointment. This started in a conversation where I said that people just didn’t care about this type of stuff. She decided to explain why people should.
Moles
Looks like there was a mole in the gun control movement. Usually when this kind of thing happens, paranoia sets in, and further people are suspected of being moles. Hey Peter, Doug… Paul is a Republican. From a very pro-gun state. Haven’t you found that to be a little suspicious? Just sayin. If you want to find out the truth on this matter, I would suggest following these instructions. My understanding is that it’s very effective.
But in all seriousness, I don’t know how much useful intelligence can actually be gleaned by this kind of activity. I mean, the gun control groups aren’t exactly a secret society, and neither is the National Rifle Association. Michael Moore is famously an NRA Life Member with an eye on getting other anti-gun folks to join and take over the organization. It’s not a new idea.
I can’t say I really condone or approve of what McFate/Sapone did in this circumstance, mostly because, as a gun rights activist, I don’t really think whatever information can be gleaned from such activity is worth the amount of support I’d have to provide my political opponents to obtain it. So says Bryan Miller:
The McFate operation, says Miller, “would confirm for me the way that the gun lobby works, which is no rules, no question of fairness or honesty. Anything that they can do they will do to protect the profits of the gun industry.”
Pot, meet kettle. I agree with Bryan that tactics like this are dishonest, and not on the up and up, but there’s nothing fair or honest about politics, and the gun control movement has not exactly played clean and honest either. Bryan, particularly, regularly misrepresents what legislation his organization supports is intended to do. I would be happy to play the game clean… but if we did that, people would see the truth about gun control. Can’t have that.
We Stand for Rights We Like
Tom King, President of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, and NRA Board Member, asks about whether the ACLU has been in regards to a man who was disarmed by the police for communicating with Representative McCarthy about his displeasure at her support for gun control.  The comments have a few people on the left demonstrating they are all about outrage when rights they approve of are violated, but not so much when it’s Second Amendment rights. I mentioned in the comments:
Congressional Offices deal with people who have weird and unusual ideas all the time. They deal with the old guys that don’t have anything better to do than call their representative’s office any time they want to bitch about something. This is par for the course for a Congress Critter.
It’s one of those, “If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.†I don’t care how much of a pain in the ass this guy was being to McCarthy’s office. It’s par for the course. You don’t send to police over to his house to violate his constitutional rights because he makes your life difficult. If they believe the man is mentally off balance, there is due process for determining such a thing. Police don’t get to unilaterally decide someone is a threat and strip them of their second amendment rights.
If he made a threat to Congresswoman McCarthy, then I want to know why charges haven’t been filed? Threats are unlawful. Communicating with your representative is not, even if those communications annoy them.
Camp Perry: Men Living Like Animals
Blackfork, who’s competing at the National Championship at Camp Perry, has this to say:
Was just off the range and 600 yard line. Pushed into a crowd outside Rock River Arms on Commercial Row for the sixth RR Hot Dog. Sweaty, grimy, tired, unshaven, sunburned, heavily armed men all standing around the condiment table squeezing mustard and relish on seared pork by-products.
Feels like REAL America.
RTWT
CZ-85 Combat
TD sent his CZ away to get pimped out. Looks pretty good.
Congress Has a Duty to Intervene
So says Representative Mark Souder (R-IN) in the Washington Post this morning:
Sadly, since the announcement of the Heller decision, we have seen the D.C. Council continue to thumb its nose at the Constitution and defy a clear Supreme Court order by largely maintaining its draconian handgun ban.
Moreover, when Congress chose to delegate home rule to the District in the 1970s, it specified that legislation enacted by the District must be “consistent with the Constitution of the United States,” and it “reserve[d] the right, at any time, to exercise its constitutional authority as legislature for the District, by enacting legislation for the District on any subject.”
I do hope some folks in Indiana will consider volunteering for Rep. Souder’s campaign in this 2008 election. We need to keep guys like this in office. Rep. Souder is the sponsor of H.Res.1331, the bill to preempt City Council from regulating guns, and set DC’s gun laws to something close to federal law.