Supporting Conservation?

Ray Schoenke goes on and on about how the big bad NRA supports politicians who are raping our planet and that the AHSA is the only ones able to 'really' support hunters by conserving our environment.

Why then do I have a feeling we'll hear nothing but crickets over this latest bill by the IL legislature stripping millions from conservation funds in the state?

In an unprecedented move to reduce Illinois’ budget deficits, the Illinois Legislature passed a bill authorizing Gov. Rod Blagojevich to sweep $18 million from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, including $9.25 million from dedicated conservation funds, which are primarily generated through the sale of hunting and fishing licenses, stamps and permits...

“Hunters and anglers pay for the opportunity to hunt and fish by purchasing licenses, stamps and permits, as well as through the federal tax on firearms, ammunition and sporting equipment,” said Kent Adams, National Wild Turkey Federation regional biologist for Illinois. “These funds are dedicated for conservation, wildlife management and public land acquisition, and sweeping them would cause Illinois to lose $15 million in federal funds that would be used for wildlife conservation. That loss would continue annually, until the swept funds were restored, so this action does nothing to solve the state budget deficit.”

Conservation and hunting organizations banded together to request Gov. Blagojevich veto SB 790, but on Oct. 7, 2008, Gov. Blagojevich quietly signed it into law. Now, many are contacting the Governor’s office asking that he not harm the future of conservation and hunting in Illinois, or the state’s economy, by sweeping dedicated sportsmen’s funds.

potentially affected conservation funds:

Illinois Habitat Fund
Wildlife and Fish Fund
Fish and Wildlife Endowment Fund
Illinois Habitat Endowment Trust Fund
State Migratory Waterfowl Fund
State Pheasant Fun


Ray, Any comment?

The Chicago White House

Obama's pick for Chief of Staff? Chicago insider and former Clinton advisor Rep. Rahm Emanuel. Another long time gun control advocate.

Yeah, this is gonna be a fun 4 years.

Sugarmann Irony

Our good buddy Josh has put out another tirade on Huffpo. I guess they paid their internet bill this month. One could choke on the amount of irony in it:

The gun industry's attempts to exploit outside events--

Followed by:

as we saw when Timothy McVeigh bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, stoking the fear of government can provoke violent acts.

And that's the .01 percent we have to worry about.

Like Josh says "Sometimes context is everything".

And just to make sure that the "Inaugural Special" really stains Josh's shorts, I'm going to plug for them.

Ruger Mini-14 Magazine Promotion
Fans of Ruger Mini-14 Target Rifles and Mini-14 Ranch Rifles can purchase Ruger manufactured 20-round magazines for a discount.


I won't even get into his long debunked myth of decreasing firearm ownership.

The first push?

The first of the international community to put their tests forward to see what kind of backbone the US will maintain under the next administration?

Medvedev: Russia to Deploy Missiles in Response to U.S. Missile Shield

MOSCOW — Russia will deploy missiles near NATO member Poland in response to U.S. missile defense plans, President Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday in his first state of the nation speech....

He said he hoped the next U.S. administration would act to improve relations. In a separate telegram, he congratulated Barack Obama on his election victory and said he was hoping for "constructive dialogue" with the incoming U.S. president.

Translation: Medvedev is hoping Obama will have policies closer to Chamberlain than Churchill.

Making Lemonade

Well, that was fun. I basically stopped watching after they called PA and OH for Obama. As Sebastian said, now we wait and see what happens.

Some good state news though.

The CCW referendum in IL passed in 10 of the 14 counties that had it on their ballot.

The referendum calling for a new Constitutional Convention also failed 2:1.

Overall there are a few close recounts still going on but it looks like the State Senate and House demographics will stay pretty much the same + or - one or two seats.

Sad.

A 'professor' who admitted to stealing McCain signs stated:

"yanking out the signs and running like a scared rabbit back to my idling car was one of the single-most exhilarating and empowering political acts that I have ever done."

I say the same thing about voting for the first time.

To state though, that you feel 'empowered' by theft and vandalism reveals a lot about your personal ethics and morals.

Where England used to be.

Coastguard banned from using flares over safety fears and told to use a torch instead

Coastguards have been banned from using flares in rescue missions after they were ruled to be a risk to health and safety.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency says the devices, which are used to illuminate large areas of land and sea during night-time searches, could cause 'considerable injury'.

Rescue teams have been told to use 'safer' alternatives such as torches and night-vision goggles during land-based cliff and beach rescues.

They're not used everyday so get rid of them because they 'might' hurt someone.

So sad. And we're headed in the same direction.

Does Obama need Congress?

A discussion on Huffpo revolved around Executive Orders and how they've been used to ban importation of certain scary firearms amongst other things. Both Bush Sr. and Clinton signed EO's stopping the importation of particular semi-auto firearms. We also had the Clinton administration turn Smith & Wesson into the firearm industry equivalent of Vichy France.

In 1999 White House domestic policy chief Bruce D. Reed said, "The country is tired of waiting for Congress to respond to the tragedy in Littleton. The administration is going to do every thing in its power to make progress on guns."

We can expect the same from an Obama administration. Congress may or may not pass new 'gun control' bills but we will certainly see instructions and orders quietly coming from the Oval Office.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, It's Over...Tomorrow...

Well, probably not, it will most likely go on through the late hours into Wednesday unless there is a sweep and even then we'll hear about lawsuits and 'irregular voting' and whatever new scandal terms the 'authorized journalists' come up with to sell their papers for weeks on end.

I'll be voting on the way to work. With Illinois pretty much a 'gimmee' for Obama , especially with my dead grandparents voting early and often in Chicago, the main issue will be voting against the State Constitutional Convention.

Some people are supporting it saying that we need a new Convention to get rid of the graft and abuses by corrupt Illinois politicians (redundant I know). Who, I wonder, do these people think will be WRITING this new Constitution?

Anyway, it will be nice to get away from campaign editorials for a few months. I'm sure the next batch will start stumping for the 2012 election around the time that the next president is being sworn in. It will be nice to get back to number crunching, gun porn, the occasional court case, and showing how Helmke, Miller, Schoenke, et al aren't telling the truth as the primary posts instead of reading campaign rhetoric day after day after day.

So go out Tuesday to vote. Vote for who you will. Then, when it's over, we can get back to the real business after two years of show business and bad sitcoms.

Bryan Miller is jealous...

In his latest rant to cover up his previous bout of hysteria:

Nothing new, as the NRA is infamous for lying. But, with a $15 million handle? Impressive. Disgusting, but impressive.

Beyond the pot calling the kettle black, Bryan just wishes ANY any gun group had anywhere near those kinds of funds to play with. He must really hate the fact that that number doesn't even dent the normal operating budgets that fund the dozens of pro-gun measures, camps, and training that occurs every day of every year.

And here I though Bryan was green because of his Frankenstein costume.

Ray Schoenke jumps into the fray..

And, as is his usual SOP, he blames the NRA who had nothing to do w/ it.

"Last year we witnessed what happened to prominent outdoor writer and commentator Jim Zumbo when he dared take a position contrary to NRA policy. Now they are trying to do the same to Dan Cooper.

Today, on behalf of the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA), I condemned the actions by the NRA and its cronies forcing Dan Cooper out.

So, like before, Ray just flat out lies. He knows it.

The AHSA website version has a section for comments. Unsurprisingly none have made it through the 'moderation' cue. Discourse is bad when you don't tell the truth.

A Shocking Experience

Parents (is my guess) send kid out to steal McCain signs and replace them w/ Obama signs. Owner of signs rigs one up to an electric pet fence. Parents then call cops on sign owner. Cops don't press charges.

That'll teach the little turd.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Shawn Turschak of Chapel Hill was tired of someone stealing McCain-Palin campaign signs from his yard. Turschak, with a degree in electrical engineering, hooked up a third sign to a power source for an electric pet fence Monday and also put up a surveillance camera.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported that a 9-year-old boy with an Obama-Biden sign grabbed the McCain-Palin sign and got a jolt on Tuesday.

The boy's father, Andrew Noble, upset that his son had been shocked, showed up at Turschak's door. Soon an Orange County sheriff's deputy also showed up at the Turschak's home.

Noble said his son just wanted to see how the sign was put together. Turschak said the boy intended to swap out the signs.

Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass said he doesn't plan to file charges.

Gun Debate Transcript.

Available here.

Still parsing it but one thing I noticed is that John Donohue flat out lied. In regards to the DC handgun ban, he stated:

You could still have a shotgun in
your home. So if you needed to be protected in your home…

Deliberately avoiding the fact that that shotgun needed to be stored disabled w/ ammunition separate. For being a professor, he sure uses ad hominem's quite freely.

Paul Helmke also shows that his stories change with the telling. On Fox, he stated:

I also took away a deep respect for how dangerous guns were.

Yet in the debate he states:

Not only had I had the experience, when I was a teenager, of seeing a
friend get a bullet in the back because of the all too common
incident of, we found a gun, we didn't know it was loaded,

So he had so much 'respect' for how dangerous guns were that he played w/ one he found, not knowing if it was loaded or not.

Gotcha.

Paul also uses the old "22x more likely" meme. Around page 50 Mr. Halbrook hands Paul his rear in the cross discussion.

Donvan attempted to use Sean Penn, with a politically connected 'may issue' CA CCW as a case study against CCW.

By page 63, Paul is reduced to insults with his old 'gun pushers' line. His closing statement blames victims of crime for the actions of criminals:

Where do the guns come from that the bad guys, that the gang members get. They steal them from people like you.

Now I don't agree w/ the causality "More Guns = Less Crime" . But this was a clear win for the pro-rights side.

Boycotts are UnAmerican

According to some commentors on USA Today, covering the Cooper situation.

Apparently not wanting to line the pockets of people who donate to causes we disagree with is wrong. To do so makes one a "right wing freak", a "gun nazi", or a 'communist'.

Bob Ricker of the AHSA agrees:

"It's a really McCarthyism at its worst," said Bob Ricker, executive director of the American Hunters and Shooters Association, which has endorsed Obama. "That's really why our organization was formed, was to deal with this craziness. If you're a gun owner, but you have a contrary view to some of these wackos, they will go out and try to destroy you."

Obviously these individuals don't fully understand the concept.

H/T to SIH

And Armed and Safe for the 2nd article.

TexasFred has more.

Those damn Urbanites again.

Paul Helmke is playing the Obama tune on Fox. You know the one. That 'rural folk' need guns but those people in the cities just can't control themselves.

If you're in the bayous of Louisiana, or the plains of Montana, a gun can be your defense against predators. When the police are far away, you may feel strongly about needing a gun for self-defense. And if someone says we should restrict guns, you worry.

But in urban areas like Philadelphia or South Central Los Angeles or even my home town in Indiana, guns may be best known for injuring young people as a result of gang violence, or police officers at a traffic stop or domestic quarrel. But when you say "we need to controls the weapons available on the streets," other Americans misinterpret you as wanting to limit their rights.

Paul, it might come as a shock to you that people in 'urban areas' also might 'feel strongly about needing a gun for self-defense' against that gang-violence or violent domestic. You want to lump them in the same category as the criminals and insane. You want to pass laws that effect not only 'city people', but everyone else as well.

Howabout we try and control the criminals that are on the streets?

The Amazing Dancing Miller

Bryan Miller, after a long haitus, decided to show us that he needs to up his meds after the whole Mary McFate incident.

Doing the merengue in the blood of an eight year old boy killed in a tragic accident, along with a few penis comments is what he is reduced to.

Sebastian SIH takes him to task.

Update: And the Reasoned Discourse begins:



Here's the comment that I'm sure won't get 'approved'.

Sorry Bryan, when you're reduced to making dick jokes and using anonymous internet comments as sources, you really have little room to determine what is 'healthy' and 'acceptable'.

Gun Owners will Murder People

According to Chicago Mayor Daley:

"When you have someone with access to a gun it shows you what they will do," Daley said.

So Daley admits what he thinks of firearm owners.

He also said:

But, this [Hudson family] crime could never have been prevented, unfortunately.”

But in reality:

Documents show that a suspect in the Chicago murders of three members of Jennifer Hudson's family was arrested for drug possession in June, but state officials didn't revoke his parole.

Yep. It couldn't have been prevented. Right.

ISRA response:

The ISRA-PVF finds it disappointing, but not unexpected, that Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has once again exploited tragedy in an attempt to boost his gun control agenda.

Read the Rest.

NPR Firearm debate

Brady Campaign president Paul Helmke will be joining other anti-rights advocates Prof. John Donohue of Yale University and Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske to argue one side of the issue, while Prof. Gary Kleck of Florida State University, attorney Stephen Halbrook, and John Lott of the University of Maryland will argue for the rights of citizens on NPR.

Info here.

Cooper Firearms makes nice Rifles.

I won't be buying one though.

This year, Cooper has given $3,300 to the campaign of Democrat Barack Obama. That’s on top of the $1,000 check he wrote to Obama’s U.S. Senate campaign in 2004, after he was dazzled by Obama’s speech at that year’s Democratic National Convention.

Update: Sebastian SIH takes Cooper to task.

NRA vs FactCheck: Round 2

To complement my post about FactChecks lack of factchecking, the NRA-ILA has issued their own response to the latest hit-piece by Annenberg Politicals director.

A new story by Brooks Jackson on the FactCheck.org website once again shows that FactCheck cherry-picks “facts” to suit its anti-NRA, anti-gun, anti-self-defense agenda—an agenda that the American people do not share.

The story claims an NRA advertisement on Barack Obama’s votes against a pro-self-defense bill is misleading because (Jackson claims) Obama did not vote for a “general repeal of the right of self defense.”

Of course, that’s not what the ad said. The ad referred to a case where Wilmette, Ill., homeowner Hale DeMar was prosecuted for owning a handgun—a fact that was only discovered after he used the gun in lawful self-defense against a masked criminal who (as FactCheck points out) was breaking into DeMar’s home for the second time in two days. In fact, burglar Morio Billings was a career criminal—a fugitive from justice with prior convictions in three states and six arrests just that year, hoping to steal enough money for some “blow and crack.” After his capture, he told police he “didn’t care if anyone was home.” And eleven days after serving his sentence for the DeMar break-in, burglar Billings was arrested yet again.

But Obama supported Wilmette’s ability to prosecute DeMar...

Even more outrageously, the supposedly neutral Jackson tries to blame the whole situation on the victim, rather than on the repeat offender who invaded his home. Jackson blames the victim for not getting his locks changed quickly enough after the first break-in, and for moving to confront the intruder before the intruder reached the children in the bedroom. But as DeMar himself asked in a newspaper op-ed, “What is one to do when a criminal proceeds, undeterred by a 90-pound German shepherd, a security alarm system and a property lit up like an outdoor stadium?”

Read the rest here.

They ask the question: "Do Brooks Jackson and FactCheck have an intrinsic bias against gun owners? "

I wouldn't say against gun owners as a whole as they have done some pieces against gun control claims, but Mr. Jackson certainly has an intrinsic bias against the NRA. He's made that perfectly clear. It would only cause further harm to FactChecks reputation of impartiality by allowing him to continue writing on the subject. But I'm sure that won't stop them.

Irony

Referring Link http://doubletapper.blogspot.com/2008/10/idf-women_10.html
Host Name
IP Address ##.###.##.### [Label IP Address]
Country Iran, Islamic Republic Of
Region Azarbayjan-e Bakhtari
City Tabriz
ISP Tabriz Internet Adsl

Yeah, I know it could be legit, but it just struck me as funny.

Non-Partisans for Democrats?

The AHSA website states:

AHSA is a non-partisan organization that advocates and advances sensible public policies.

Yet Ray Schoenke says:

"I've always been amazed that Democrats have never had a gun rights organization," Schoenke said. "I always thought there must be millions of Democrats that owned guns, there must be liberals that own guns and moderates that own guns and independents."

So Ray started one.

New "Model Gun Law"

The 'Illinois Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence Ownership have put forward their latest plan to make firearm ownership so difficult and expensive that it amounts to a defacto ban:

Certificate of ownership, arbitrarily issued by whatever agency is in charge, requiring 5 hours of 'safety' training and 2 hours of range time for EACH firearm. An additional written test. (with fees).Renewed every two years. (with fees).

Registration. Arbitrarily decided firearms cannot be registered. Renewed Annually. With fees.

Safe Storage (lock or safe). But it's ok to take it out if someone's about to kill you.

'Lost or Stolen' reporting. W/ the words 'should have discovered'. Uh huh.


Proposal here. It contains links to their other 'Model Gun Bans' including 50 cals, "assault weapons", personalized handguns, etc. Details start about page 20. The rest is lots of citations by Kellerman, Cook, and other Joyce puppets on why gun ownership is 'Da Debill'.


Only Ones excepted in all cases of course.

Basically their plan is to canvass all the townships like Winnetka that have their gun bans overturned or in jeopardy with this as an 'alternative' that they think will pass muster.

H/T to Armed and Safe who has more.

FactCheck fails to check the Facts (Again)

Thanks to Tgirsch, we discover FactCheck continues to show its bias when attacking the NRA.

“(The NRA says he voted “four times” but we find record of only two votes.)”

Two words “Judiciary Committee”. An additional two votes from him against it.

Charges were initially filed against Demar but later dropped after public outcry. Not a word about that. Wonder why? Demar was fined $750 by the city and that’s not a ‘petty’ amount. Unless of course you also think $500 firearms are ‘disposable’. So Factchecks claim that 'nothing would have changed' is spurious at best.

So much for ‘factchecking’ on FactCheck.

These guys are so ticked off by the fact that the NRA decided to push back instead of meekly accepting "Factchecks" personal biases that they're not even really looking very hard and hoping people don't 'factcheck' them in their zeal to post as much against the NRA as they can.

It should be noted that the author of this latest hit piece , Mr. Brooks Jackson, as well as being co-author of the last one, is the Director of Annenberg Political Fact Check. Obviously we can not expect an individual who states :

“They are lying. This is what they do. This is how they make their money. Do these people have no shame? They are just making this up.

to show any sort of impartiality when it comes to the NRA. FactCheck must consider such to be "the best practices of both journalism and scholarship,"

Murder Capitol of the US

Chicago has bypassed LA and NYC for the number of homicides in the city:

As CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports, the Chicago Sun-Times pointed out on Friday that Chicago has seen 426 homicides this year through Tuesday, compared with 417 in New York and 302 in Los Angeles.

While the homicide increase is 1% lower than it was last month (down from 15.7% to 14.6%), it's still looking to break 500 for the first time in five years. The increase overall violent and property crime has gone up from 2.9% to 3.5% as compared to last year. 45% of murders are directly gang related.

Meanwhile, there's a 50% school drop out rate, students are being encouraged to ditch class, hundreds of police officer positions are being deleted (after promises of increases), and tax rates are the highest in the nation.

What a wonderful city.

Armed and Safe has more.

Paul Helmke's confused

On an interview on FoxNews, Paul claimed that Obama "only voted to keep 18 year olds from having Concealed Carry permits, he wanted to keep it at 21" (3:00 min in).

Well, that would have been pretty standard except for the fact that Illinois DOESN'T HAVE CONCEALED CARRY!!!* He even voted against people w/ restraining orders from being able to get them (he claimed a slippery-slope) and has stated he wants a federal law banning it. As one of only two states that doesn't have CCW, one would think Paul should be able to remember that. It also sort of negates Pauls claim that "Obama wants local controls to trump federal ones". It's true in part, but only if the 'control' is anti-gun.

The vote that Helmke 'probably' meant is the one where Obama voted against dropping the age for the FOID card (needed for ownership or purchasing) from 21 to 18. The FOID in no way authorized CCW. As one of only two states that don't have CCW, one would think Paul should be able to remember that.

So to paraphrase Tom King, was Helmke misinformed, confused, or lying?

Wayne Lapierre then proceeds to spank Paul's peepee.

Rustmeister has more


*Only Ones excepted

Dictator for Life Bloomberg

Mayor Bloomberg and his puppets on the city council have voted to allow themselves to run for office indefinitely circumventing multiple referendums.

So much for the "Will of The People".

Is anyone really surprised though?

Another Brady 'Paper'.

Here.

I love how they now claim that 59% support is 'not overwhelming' when they've previously claimed it was, but that was support for gun bans and not opposition to it. Then 67% becomes a 'solid majority'.

Words mean what they want them to.

They also show that 'FactCheck', even after 4 years, selectively chooses what it wants people to hear when it comes to the NRA by still only partially quoting Kennedy's speech calling for banning of various types of ammunition, notably where he calls civilian ownership of .223, 7.62 , and 30-30 'unconscionable'.

They also exclude the 'inconvenient fact' of the rest of the wording of the 2A "The right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed". But we all know that the Brady Legal Action Project director Dennis Henigan likes to forget the words "Of the People".

So much for being 'students of the Constitution and American History'.

Cheaper Ammo coming?

From an E-mail:

Apparently the Oregon State legislature is considering a plan to allow the Grande Ronde Indian tribe to open up an ammunition manufacturing plant on their reservation. I need to do some more checking but the scuttle is that they will be producing mainly NATO calibers to help ease the squeeze from other plants who are sending most of their wares to the middle east. Prediction is that prices will drop if this gets going as a portion of their production will be reserved for civillian buyers.

That and they'll be turning a tidy profit.

We might just be able to afford to go to the range again.

-kaveman

We can hope. We can hope.

Headline Polls are useless

Yesterdays headline screamer:

Obama opens double-digit lead over McCain


Todays headline:

Race tightens in final weeks

There's a difference of up to 14 points depending on which ones you choose to believe.

Yeah, that's accuracy for you.

Sebastian SIH has more.

Codrea in Cleveland Examiner

David's got a regular column.

Linky fixed

Raise Taxes, Raise Fees, Cut Jobs, Raise Prices

Chicago Mayor Daley's plan to drive people out of the city.

Slow police hiring to 200 in 2009, saving $10 million.

Install red-light cameras at 50 more intersections.

Increase gun registration fee from $20 to $60 per firearm.

And many many more.

H/T to 45Superman

2nd City Cop has his view on the increases

Brady Endorsed Dianne McGuire

Brady Campaign endorsed Dianne McGuire, Democratic candidate for the IL 96th District House seat, is distributing flyers promising a broadly worded semi-auto ban.

McGuire’s campaign personnel are also telling citizens that McGuire will, “Shut the Naperville Sportsmen’s Club down – once and for all.” according to the ISRA.

But the Brady Campaign is only concerned w/ 'gun crime'. All those Chicago gang-bangers go there every day to practice.

Right.

DGU in Chicago

An individual carrying a handgun successfully defended himself against an armed robber in Chicago. The robber 'got the drop on him' yet the victim was able to shoot and kill him anyway.

Unfortunately this is not typical.

It's not typical in that this individual was an off duty police officer, the only ones allowed to legally possess and carry firearms in the city of Chicago. Had this been anyone else, they would have been at the mercy of the mugger.

48 other states have Concealed Carry in some form or another for 'regular' citizens. What makes the citizens subjects of Illinois less deserving?

Barack "I have lots of tax payer funded security" Obama thinks that ONLY police officers and other figures in authority should have the right to defend themselves nationwide.

Astroturf for Obama

Bitter and Peter did some digging on "Rednecks for Obama".

Turns out the group is run by longtime political donors (who claim they only got active last year) and whose offices are located in the same building as the PA Obama headquarters even though they claim they're run out of MO.

Nope. Not suspicious at all.

Details here.

Smackdown on Laura Washington

At the LibertyZone.

Laura is back spouting her usual PC racism and blaming whitey for young Chicago gangbangers slaughtering eachother:

Black America should demand that Obama cease his shameless pandering to the People of the Gun and launch a full-throttle crusade for sensible gun control. While he has been out on the campaign trail, dozens of Chicago children have been slaughtered in the streets.

Does THIS sound like the guy is pandering to gun owners? SPARE ME! Obama is a gun banner. Laura just wants to ensure that he's loud and proud of it.

She doesn't care if Whitey is disarmed and vulnerable to disaffected urban youts. She just cares when they start gunning down one another. Screw anyone else who wants to protect their lives and those of their loved ones! BLACK children are being gunned down in the streets!

Read the rest.

New NRA ad

Here.

It's in reference to the Hale Demarr situation in IL where a homeowner who had an unregistered handgun in Wilmette, IL, where you had to register but couldn't , defended himself w/ said handgun against a home invasion and was then himself charged w/ possession. The IL legislature, in an amazing show of wisdom, overwhelmingly voted to modify the law making such an action an affirmative defense via SB2165, even overriding a veto by the Governor.

Obama voted against this bill in every form and at every time. Obviously he considers prosecuting someone who violated an unconstitutional law (which even the city recognizes now) was more important than considering the welfare of the actual victim.

They hate Sarah Palin...

with a passion normally reserved for the most ardent evangelists listening to a fire and brimstone sermon.

But they still want to see her in a swimsuit.

On Nov. 4 Vote against Brady Endorsed Candidates.

Instead vote for those who think you are capable of being a citizen, not a subject.

Here's the ones who think you should depend on the authorities for your well being. The ones who think you are responsible for the actions of criminals, drug dealers, and gang bangers:

Sen. John Cullerton, for Illinois State Senate, District 6
Sen. Heather Steans, for Illinois State Senate, District 7
Sen. Jeff Shoenberg, for Illinois State Senate, District 9
Sen. Terry Link, for Illinois State Senate, District 30
Rep. Dan Kotowski, for Illinois State Senate, District 33

Rep. Harry Osterman, for Illinois State House, District 14
Rep. Elizabeth Coulson, for Illinois State House, District 17
Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, for Illinois State House, District 25
Will Burns, for Illinois State House, District 26
Rep. Fred Crespo, for Illinois State House, District 44
Gary Nowak, for Illinois State House, District 46
Amanda Howland, for Illinois State House, District 51
Rep. Elaine Nekritz, for Illinois State House, District 57
Rep. Karen May, for Illinois State House, District 58
Rep. Kathleen Ryg, for Illinois State House, District 59
Rep. Rosemary Mulligan, for Illinois State House, District 65
Mark Walker, for Illinois State House, District 66
Dianne McGuire, for Illinois State House, District 96

and other supports of draconian gun restrictions.

Kotowski's my favorite. He's the one that was caught lying to legislature on .50 cal rifles, attached an anti-gun bill to a bill labeled to reduce the sexual exploitation of children, and ban rifles chambered in .17WMR as 'military style assault weapons'.

Edge of the Wedge..

Ray Schoenke's trip through Ohio stumping for Obama shows clearly what the AHSA was created for. To be a false-front organization for anti-gun politicians and trick gun owners into supporting them. With the help of a clueless and partisan media, he's getting his word out:

GALLIPOLIS —

Sportsmen for ... Obama?

That’s right. American Hunters and Shooters Association President Ray Schoenke conducted a two-day tour across Ohio Tuesday and Wednesday, stopping at the Gallia County Gun Club yesterday to confirm Democratic nominee Barack Obama’s support for the rights of hunters and sportsmen.

The AHSA is a non-partisan, gun rights organization and an alternative to the National Rifle Association. The organization aims to protect sporting heritage and hunting and fishing conservation, while promoting gun safety.

No mention of all the anti-gun legislation and activities that Obama's been involved in. Simply "He won't directly confiscate your guns so he's a good guy". That, according to Schoenke, is supporting 'hunters and shooters'.

Thankfully some people aren't falling for it and are trying to get the word out on both Obama and the AHSA:

As a past president of the Gun Club and chairman of the Gallia Area Friends of NRA, to my knowledge the Gun Club has never endorsed any candidate being local, state or national and certainly not Sen. Barack Obama, as was implied in the article...

This is the same organization that called the DC gun ban a 'laudable effort' and stated that laws mandating storage at 'gun clubs' or armories would pass muster.

That might be considered 'supporting hunters and shooters' in the UK, but not here.

Ray Schoenke Flip Flops

On his Daily Kos blog, Ray Schoenke of the AHSA claims:

We're opposed to reinstating the semi-auto assault weapons ban. There's a lot of confusion about this legislation. Most people believe an assault weapon is a full-auto. Those fully automatic guns are already regulated. The best way to deal with this issue is to make sure that criminals don't get guns in the first place.

Bush was wrong for supporting reinstating the ban in 2000 and 2004. McCain was wrong for voting for it back in 2004 (it was an amendment to S. 1805 for which McCain voted yes.) The NRA still endorsed both of them. We don't agree with the call for renewing the ban. Also, the Heller case should have settled this. What's important is that hunters and sportsmen will have a seat at the table when the Obama administration deals with guns.

Yet in 2006 he claimed:

"No one needs an assault weapon," Schoenke said.

and their "Who We Are" page got changed from:

"According to a 2003 Field & Stream National Hunting Survey, sportsmen overwhelmingly support reasonable gun safety proposals. Moreover, an overwhelming majority of hunters support proposals like background checks to purchase guns, keeping military style assault weapons off our streets and the elimination of cop killer bullets."

This position was defended in their (continued)inaccurate attacks against the NRA w/ the "Zumbo Myth" as late as the middle of last year.


Ray's Presser attacking the NRA (as if they do anything else) for supporting McCain states:

The NRA is holding Obama accountable for votes taken 10 years ago, but giving McCain a pass for his actions within the past 8 years.

A legitimate statement yet the AHSA is giving Obama a pass on votes and actions w/i the last five years, including opposing CCW, banning "assault weapons, voting for 3rd party lawsuits, supporting ammo bans, etc.

So does that mean that the AHSA has "demonstrated once again that it is a partisan political entity, not an organization committed to the best interests of gun owners."?

Armed and Safe has more

Bolt Action KS Carbine

More "Authorized Journalists" on firearms:

A bolt-action SKS carbine with a foldaway bayonet -- popular with communist troops in Vietnam -- was among the weapons confiscated.

Idiots.

Thanks to 45Superman for the tip.

Hell Hath Frozen Over

NRA And Brady Campaign AGREE: Barack Obama Is Anti-Gun!

In a rare occurrence, NRA and the Brady Campaign (formerly Handgun Control, Incorporated) agree on something.

Four years ago, the Brady Campaign endorsed an anti-gun senator by the name of John Kerry for President, and NRA thought that decision made sense—for an anti-gun group.

This week, in a testament to his anti-gun record, Barack Obama also received a presidential endorsement from the Brady Campaign.

So, once again, the Brady Campaign and NRA are in total agreement—Barack Obama is, by far, the most anti-gun presidential nominee in history and he certainly deserves the endorsement of one of the most outspoken anti-gun organizations in the country.

Universal Health Care Fails

for children in Hawaii.

The state established a 'universal health care plan' for children just seven months ago. Apparently they didn't really intend it to be 'universal' as they cancelled it after complaining people who previously had health care were signing their kids up for it.

Trust the Government. They're here to help.


Until they're not.

Pot, Kettle, Hypocrisy, Lying

Brady SOP in its latest BS release.

"The NRA uses its questionnaire to rate and endorse candidates. But the guide reveals that the NRA"s questions are often based on incomplete or misleading assumptions, and candidates" answers therefore may reveal little about their actual views. "

-Another Brady Presser

As if they have any room to talk about 'misleading assumptions'.

What really stands out is they blatantly lie just a few sentences down:

The NRA opposed the Federal assault weapons ban, which limited ammunition magazines to 10 rounds. Now that the ban has expired, the sale of 30, 50, even more than 100 round magazines is legal again.

They were legal during the ban as well, there were just import and manufacture restrictions.

So they 'illuminate' the candidates and public by lying to them.

The 'report' is filled w/ this kind of nonsense. Referring to "Assault Weapons" as 'belonging on the battlefield', the old claim that CCW holders commit crimes more often than non-CCW holders using partial and incomplete statistics, claiming the NRA wants machineguns for everyone, etc.

It's funny that they talk about the BATFE's 'limited resources' when they have been critisized repeatedly for fraud, waste, and abuse, as well as spending millions in tax dollars to shut down dealers w/ minor paperwork infractions.

They've also picked up AHSA talking points"

it is worth noting that the NRA has overwhelmingly supported some of the biggest conservation opponents in Congress, and opposed many conservation supporters.

One would think that their goals were complementary or something.

And this is just after a cursory reading. Kaveman is going to have another Youtube video up if he tries to fisk this.

GBRIII Photos Galore

At Walls of the City

More Snuffy Pfleger

Armed and Safe notes that the good reverend has an anti-gun page on his church's website and that he really shows he has no idea what or who he's protesting against.

Somebody should really try and make Snuff understand that Cook County has all the laws he's demanding (and more) yet still accounts for 72% of the murders in the state.

Rusty notes that the church is actively campaigning against candidates.

I'm pretty sure they're not supposed to do that.

Americans United says it's a no-no.

National Park Carry Update

Here is the suggested change:

Section 27.42—Firearms
The current regulation in Section
27.42 generally prohibits visitors from
possessing an operable and loaded
firearm in a national wildlife refuge
unless the firearm is used for lawful
hunting activities. Under the proposed
amendment, an individual will be able
to possess, carry, and transport
concealed, loaded, and operable
firearms within a national wildlife
refuge in the same manner, and to the
same extent, that a person may lawfully
possess, carry, and transport concealed,
loaded and operable firearms in any
state wildlife refuge, or any functionally
similar unit of state land, in the state in
which the national wildlife refuge, or
that portion thereof, is located.
Functionally similar state lands will
include, but not be limited to State
wildlife management areas and state
game areas. Possession of concealed
firearms in national wildlife refuges as
authorized by this section must also
conform to applicable federal laws.

I'm reading it that they support the idea that if it's legal in your state to carry in their parks, you can carry in the Federal parks in those states.

Uncle called it

The Brady Bunch have jumped on the new anti-gun phrase "Disposable AK-47's" like a crack-whore on a $5 bill.

Sorry Paul. The only thing that's been shown to be 'disposable' is your integrity.

Election Time Vandalism

Pure Hogwash.

Richard Pearson on Obama's claimed support for the rights of firearm owners.

I lobbied Barack Obama extensively while he was an Illinois State Senator. As a result of that experience, I know Obama's attitudes toward guns and gun owners better than anyone. The truth be told, in all my years in the Capitol I have never met a legislator who harbors more contempt for the law-abiding firearm owner than does Barack Obama.

Similar sentiments here and here from other Illinois Sportsmen.

Seems there's a bit of a contrast to what people who have actually dealt w/ him say and what those who are politically motivated do.

Righteous Shooting

Felon robs store. Clerk shoots him while he's trying to get away so he'll probably be charged w/ something. As usual, the robber is a longtime petty criminal who was working on becoming MORE violent but was "reaching out to find his path in life." He was, but not in any legitimate field.

The Mayor gets it:

"Any time you point a gun at me and if I've got a gun and I've got the opportunity, I'm going to use it on you," Waukegan Mayor Richard Hyde said. "With society the way it is now and with the number of armed robberies you have, you've got to fight back."

Jesse Jackson can't shut up...

From the NY Post:

Jackson believes that, although "Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades" remain strong, they'll lose a great deal of their clout when Barack Obama enters the White House.

I wonder how Obama will do that after Jackson "cuts his nuts off".

The man is a caricature of himself.

Lucky Number 14

The number of Illinois counties w/ Concealed Carry Referendums:

"Shall the General Assembly enact legislation to permit the carrying of concealed firearms? [ ] Yes [ ] No".

Those counties include: Crawford, Effingham, Franklin, Greene, Jasper, Jefferson, Kendall, LaSalle, McDonough, Ogle, Saline, Union, Woodford, and Winnebago.

If even one of these passes, it will be a monumental victory for Illinois firearm rights especially being the home state of anti-self defense advocate and presidential candidate Barack "basic civil rights, forget it" Obama.

ISRA flyers, yard signs and T-shirts are available.

One step at a time.

Brady Campaign on the Limp

Since they don't have enough left for a march.

Robb Allen and IllinoisCarry point to a Brady presser saying they are 'targeting state legislators' who voted against Brady gun bans and restrictions.

First on their list is ISRA Preferred Candidate Rep. Dennis Reboletti in State House District 46. Why? Because he voted against HB 758, a bill making NICS checks mandatory for all handgun sales.

Here's the clincher. The reason the bill failed was because there's already a universal background check in IL in the form of the FOID card. It is illegal to sell or transfer a firearm to anyone w/o one. It is the responsibility of the Illinois State Police to maintain the records of who has one and who has lost eligibility.

Translation: If you have a FOID card, as far as the seller is concerned, you've passed a background check. If you don't have one, that's a crime on the seller and purchaser. If you have one and you are not eligible, you are committing a crime by taking the gun and the ISP have failed in their responsibility.

The Brady Campaign gave IL a higher score for having the FOID in the first place so this is a(nother) sideways admission they really don't care about crime and just want as many restrictions as they can manage to legal firearm ownership.

One wonders how much they'll be able to focus on other candidates due to their lack of funding or if this is their major push.

We should also have a little fun at Alderman Mell's expense for his support of this tactic. If you recall, Mell was the Alderman who wrote a personal exemption for the Chicago gun laws after he failed to re-register his own firearms.

Baghdad Chicago

War on Guns points to a Sun-Times article by 'journalist' Mary Mitchell where she calls for a Constitution Free Chicago. Barricades, road blocks, warrantless searches of homes and people, you know, your standard police state policies.

Sure Ms. Mitchell. Let's do that in Chicago and, like several commentors noted, the majority of those searched and arrested will be African American males between the ages of 18 and 32.

Guess what will happen then?

The Reverends Jackson and Sharpton will crawl out of their holes screaming 'RACISM' while marching through the streets with their bused in supporters. The families of those "honor students" and "good kids" will follow behind them telling every news reporter in sight how their baby would never do anything wrong. They were only going to the store for a gallon of milk when they were arrested w/ drugs and a gun at 2am will be the refrain.

So go ahead. Convince Daley that your plan will work and get it implemented. Then watch it collapse due to the actions of the very people that are being victimized by crime.

The Spinning ACORN

ACORN has been investigated for thousands of cases of registering people multiple times, under fake names, etc. While the state of Nevada may be partially at fault, this level of failure is beyond incompetence and sparks of the intentional. None of that matters on Huffpo however:

So, when one of the thousands of people they give jobs to doesn't do their work right and brings back bogus or phony voter registration cards...

The effect is that a few bad canvassers or a poorly run office will mean that bad cards are submitted as part of the normal process.

Sorry, when you have a fraud rate of well over 90% in multiple offices across multiple states, it's more than just 'a few bad apples' in 'one or two offices'. This is a deliberate move to skew numbers and commit voter fraud. But it's so much easier to whine "Faux News", "Florida", or "Repugs" than it is to look critically in the mirror.

Anti gun support for Obama

The Brady Bunch has endorsed Obama for president. Since they share the same goals as the AHSA, that comes as no surprise.

The first thing we can expect from the anti's under an Obamessiah theocracy is a major push to try and ban semi-auto's of vague description.

RobbAllan asks THE question.

Commie guns

From the display my unit asked me to put up at our family day:

AR-16D Rapidfire Nail Gun

New nail gun, made by Dewalt. It can drive a 16D nail through a 2 X 4 at 200
yards. This makes construction a breeze; you can sit in your lawn chair and
build a fence. Just get the wife and kids to hold the fence boards in place
while you sit back, relax with a cold drink, when they have the board in the
right place just fire away. With the hundred round magazine, you can build
the fence with a minimum of reloading.

After a day of fence building with the new Dewalt Rapid fire nail gun,
the wife will not ask you to fix or build anything !!!

Quote of the Day

From Kaveman on the latest Brady "Assault Weapon" regurgitation:

I read the whole thing last night and took a sip of vodka every time I spotted a lie. This morning, I woke up in my neighbor's yard naked and covered in what appeared to be a mixture of brake fluid and BBQ sauce.

The police said they would send me a video after they put it on youtube.

UMPC blogroll down

Yuri Orlov pointed out to me that the Unorganized Militia :Propoganda Corps blogroll has disappeared after what he says was a hacking attack on the site. I've e-mailed Linoge of Walls of the City to see if he knows what's going on.

Update: The site says "Sorry, we're down for maintenance. " and the blogroll seems to have re-appeared.

NRA endorses McCain/Palin

Couldn't they endorse just half the ticket?

This is going to bite us.

Scary Mentalities

On another message board, there was a discussion about tests to allow for voting. Most supports went along the ideas of 'current issues'. I brought up, assuming a fantasy world of no bias, a basic gov't test similar to the ones we took in High School and which all immigrants need to take would, in my opinion, help make voting decisions more educated. This since not all issues are considered such across the board while the function of gov't is a universal.

After some discussion on how would this 'guarantee' improvement, a claim I never made, a very vocal opponent stated that voting for someone based off of liking what clothes they wear was, and I quote:

..as valid a reason as any other when you are exercising an absolute and unqualified right.

Barring the fact that voting is in no way an "absolute" nor an "unqualified" right (citizenship and not being insane or mentally retarded come to mind as just two 'qualifications' that are pretty universal) the idea that voting for someone because you think they're sexier than their opponent is equitable to understanding the issues and how they would affect society just plain scares the hell out of me.

Not that I'm really surprised that people think that way but that they'd announce and defend it.

'Gun Guys' funny.

Obama is pandering to the NRA according to Gonzo*:

Sen. Barack Obama panders hard to the NRA in a new ad running in Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Carolina according to Politico.

In the ad, the voiceover says that "Barack Obama supports gun rights, our right to defend ourselves, and the Second Amendment."

Obama has, unfortunately, taken the gun lobby's bait and framed his position on guns in terms of "rights" and "self-protection" versus fighting the lobbyists and special interests who control the agenda in Washington. Hmm, is that really "change we can believe in" Sen. Obama?

Josh Horowitz is working out of a broom closet w/ unpaid interns because he can't afford the rent and Paul Helmke is begging anyone, anyone at all, to bring up gun control so he can pretend he's doing his job as the Brady Bunch president. Even Barack "minor wording issues" Obama knows where the votes are when it comes to firearms nationally.

Hee Hee.



*Would you like some linky-love to get your numbers up? I'm sure your Joyce Foundation bosses would like to see some results from their money. Pop me an e-mail.

ACORN Voter fraud

Office raided in Vegas:

Nevada state authorities seized records and computers Tuesday from the Las Vegas office of an organization that tries to get low-income people registered to vote, after fielding complaints of voter fraud....

But it's not the first time ACORN's been under investigation for registration irregularities. The raid is the latest of at least nine investigations into possible fraudulent voter registration forms submitted by ACORN -- the probes have involved ACORN workers in Wisconsin, New Mexico, Indiana and other states.

In 2006, ACORN also committed what Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed called the "worse case of election fraud" in the state's history.

In the case, ACORN submitted just over 1,800 new voter registration forms, and all but six of the 1,800 names were fake.

More recently, 27,000 registrations handled by the group from January to July 2008 "went into limbo because they were incomplete, inaccurate, or fraudulent," said James Terry, chief public advocate at the Consumers Rights League.

While a different group in Ohio are shuttling people to polls to try and skirt residency checks.

Now who's associated w/ this 'community organizing' again?

W

Anti Idiocy of the Day

From our ever favorite Brady Sycophant 'Kelli' over on Huffpo:

You repeatedly bring up the state of NJ with respect to a semi-auto model 'Marlin 60' (& I'm assuming it's many, many variant) ~ which is considered even by some gunowners as not the most practical assault rifle for hunting (eg., it's "overkill").

Yes. The venerable .22 cal "Assault Gun". "Overkill" for hunting.

Behold the inner workings of the ignorant.

"Minor Wording Details"

Just as Obama dismissed wording that banned single-shot and Dbl barrel shotguns in the IL Senate, it just follows the pattern of "Assault Weapon Bans" throughout the nation as well as Illinois. It also shows that it takes people who actually know what they're talking about to make them fix it.

For example. California and copycat Denver both banned the "Encom CM-55" and "H-93" firearms. Neither of which existed. California fixed the typos in later modifications to the law while Denver just deleted the entire section of specific firearms (38-130 H ) after a lawsuit upheld the ban but told them to drop the list when many didn't fit the 'generic" definition.

McCarthy et al prove that they really have no clue what their talking about when they want to ban "things that go up" while Kennedy talks about banning 30.30 Winchester as "armor peircing ammo".

Intelligence tests are illegal for voting. How about ones for running for office?

There's a new acronym in town.

The former "Special Operations Section" (SOS), named so after the cries of the people they kidnapped and robbed, is allegedly being replaced by a brand spankin' new group of "Elite Only Ones" with a neat sounding title right out of a GI Joe comic. The Mobile Strike Force. (MSF)

The new leader of said "Strike Force" has an impressive resume. Let's see if he's up to playing Chicago politics w/ the likes of Jackson, Sharpton, Daley, and Weis.

Intimidation? Yeah, right.

Obama has his lawyers attempt to threaten TV stations and censor his opposition. The result. Ads in even more markets w/ another juicy little tidbit to add to it.

Fairfax, VA-Today the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) expanded its advertising campaign with the release of additional commercials further detailing Sen. Barack Obama’s long anti-gun record in battleground states across the country. The NRA-PVF commercials began airing Monday in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Minnesota and Michigan....

In an attempt to suppress free speech rights protected under the First Amendment, Obama's campaign has threatened television stations to stop airing the NRA-PVF ads under threat of revocation their FCC licenses. NRA-PVF has provided documented evidence to support the statements about Obama's record in the ads.

Commercials may be viewed at www.gunbanobama.com.

Obama and the Second Amendment

He says he thinks it 'creates' and individual right.

He hasn't always thought so as a member of the Joyce Foundation board.

I'm the NRA, You're the NRA, We're all the NRA

War on Guns has an update on the VCDL case against another township that can't figure out the concept that open carry is legal in Virginia.

The article he links to shows clearly that it doesn't take intelligence or common sense to be in politics:

Councilman Barclay C. Winn, who is a hunter, said the guns-rights group's actions are precisely why he won't joint the NRA - the powerful lobbyists the National Rifle Association.

Ah, so he won't join the NRA because of his problems w/ the VCDL? That makes sense. That's like saying :I have a problem w/ PETA so I won't join the ASPCA.

And this idiot has apparently been making decisions for the banking industry:

Riddick and other council members weren't aware of the financial settlement with Moore. "Before we issue another $10,000 check, we should go to the highest court in the land," he said.

Yep. Instead of cutting a quick check and trying to get your police to actually know the law, let's try and spend multiple times more on a lawsuit that you'll lose.

See, I might understand their ignorance if this was the first time this had happened. But this is the SECOND time the police had harrassed this same individual.

The VCDL is going to eat these guys alive.

Boat/Ship porn

USS Grunion found 65 years after sinking.




USS Intrepid museum back home in NYC.



Pyotr Velikiy (Пётр Великий) Kirov class battlecruiser heads to Venezuela

My new candidate...

The Blogging Community

Bitter and Sebastian both talk about how many of the gun bloggers have formed an online community that works together and supports eachother to further enhance our rights as firearm owners and how it would be to ours and other firearm rights supporters advantage to be a part of this community. I couldn't agree more. It is one of our greatest strengths.

Because this community goes beyond just the internet. It crosses over into the real world.

Examples: Just last weekend I drove to Indianapolis to get together with other bloggers and friends. The regular poster Kaveman (who needs to start his own blog) contacted me the other day to ask if I would like a subscription to Guns & Ammo since he had a gift subscription available. Coming up in a few weeks is the Gun Blogger Rendevous III.

We get together to meet and enjoy eachothers company while sharing similar interests.

We have places where we get together with other firearm enthusiasts: Ranges. Shops. Shows.

We teach our children the shooting sports while spending quality time together.

In other words. We enjoy ourselves.


The anti's have nothing to compare that with.

There are no anti-gun shops. No anti-gun ranges. No anti-gun shows. No anti-gun magazines.

There is no quality time in teaching your children be afraid or just leaving them in ignorance.

What they have in common when they get together is fear... disgust... even hatred. Not exactly things to build strong, lifelong friendships on. Oh, they may find they have other interests in common, but most of the time it will just be the negative emotions that brought them together in the first place.

We are a community. They only want to disrupt that community.

That is our strength.

Obama TV

The Obama Campaign has apparently purchased their very own television station. I guess having the majority of media as their beck and call girls wasn't enough. Now it's all Obama, all the time.



(god,I can't believe I'm sourcing Kos.)

Funny of the Day

...only one out of 150,000 gun owners belong to the NRA

-Troll on Topix.net

Now, if we go by the low end of the membership numbers (3 million), that would put the US firearm owning population at 450 billion people.

75x the population of the planet. It would be like living in Hong Kong planet wide.

Conversely, if we went by the number of actual firearm owners in the US (80 million), then the NRA would have a membership of 533 people.

When did the NRA become the AHSA?

JAMA bias

A recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Assoc. (2008;300(13):1575-1577) shows that even Doctors can be fooled.

It's opening statement claims that the Heller v DC decision recognized that the BOR "grants" rights:

"In District of Columbia v Heller, The Supreme Court held, for the first time in its history, that the Second Amendment grants an individual right to possess and use firearms for personal use..."

Yet, in the majority opinion is written (page 19, first paragraph):

"The very text of the Second Amendment implicitly recognizes the pre-existence of the right and declares only that it “shall not be infringed.” As we said in United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U. S. 542, 553 (1876), “[t]his is not a right granted by the Constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence. The Second amendment declares that it shall not be infringed . . .”

In the Stevens dissent is written (page 17, first paragraph) wrote:

"And the Court’s emphatic reliance on the claim “that the Second Amendment . . codified a pre-existing right,” ante, at 19, is of course beside the point because the right to keep and bear arms for service in a state militia was also a pre-existing right."

Not a very astute beginning for a scholarly article, eh?

The conclusion is just as telling:

A bare majority of the Supreme Court—in the most strident
and dismissive terms—has thus sided with, and given
voice to, ardent opponents of firearm safety regulation.

Yep that's right. If we oppose bans defacto and dejure, we oppose safety. I'm surprised he didn't try the "give guns to little kids" bit.

His citations are just as entertaining. Wintemute, Hemenway, Cook, Ludwig, and Bloomberg. How much Joyce Foundation funding can we cite in one place?

No. No bias here. Not many facts either.

On to that giant scratching post in the sky..

Tam's kitten Mittens passed away.

My condolences. I know when 'my' cat (out of the herd of 7) goes, I'm going to be a wreck.

Regulate and Control

Bitter links to a letter from Rev. Snuffy Pfleger decrying the lack of 'gun control'. He claims we need to "regulate and control" the "flow of guns". Let's look at some facts.

Chicago has 5x the murder rate of the rest of the state.
Chicago has a 50% HS drop out rate.
50% of Chicago murders are gang related.
Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation.

Illinois outside of Chicago doesn't have these problems to anywhere near the degree Chi-town does. The gang-bangers are getting their guns illegally from their friends and family. The same ones who refuse to assist the police when their honor-student babies shoot up neighborhoods.

The solution is simple.

We need to Regulate and Control the flow of Chicagoans to the rest of the state.

King Bloomberg

The NYT is reporting that Bloomie is going to try and change NYC's law limiting him to two term limits w/o presenting it to the voters:

After months of speculation about his political future, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg plans to announce on Thursday morning that he will seek a third term as mayor, according to three people who have been told of his plans.

Right now, Mr. Bloomberg is barred by law from seeking re-election. But he will propose trying to revise the city’s 15-year-old term limits law, which would otherwise force him and dozens of other elected leaders out of office in 2009, the three people said...

The chances of passing legislation in the City Council are strong, according to interviews. In August, a New York Times survey of council members — two-thirds of whom are scheduled to be forced out of office in 2009 — found that a majority of them were willing to amend the term limits law.

Laws for thee and not for me.

VA/MS Reciprocity

One more step forward. From VCDL:

What a day!

Tom Lambert, with the Virginia State Police, has just sent me a copy
of a new reciprocity agreement between Virginia and Mississippi!

The agreement will be posted on the VCDL web site shortly.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The agreement is BRAND NEW and is not on either the
Virginia State Police web site nor on Mississippi's site yet. I
SUGGEST **NOT** CARRYING IN MISSISSIPPI UNTIL VIRGINIA IS LISTED ON
MISSISSIPPI'S WEB SITE AS A RECIPROCAL STATE.

And even less police...

The other day, I mentioned the fact that Daley didn't think the vacancies in the Chicago Police Department would effect crime.

He's decided to emphasize that point by taking it one step further. He's not only not going to fill the vacancies but he's going to cut them from the job rolls:

Despite Daley’s promise to add 75 police officers in 2008, the Chicago Police Department has 329 vacancies and 424 openings for non-sworn police employees. That’s in addition to the 705 officers on medical leave and 625 officers in limited or convalescent duty status.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported this week that the police vacancies would be among 3,000 unfilled jobs eliminated from the mayor’s 2009 budget to erase a $420 million budget shortfall over this year and next.

Yep. Raise taxes. Cut police. That's sure to reduce crime.

Robert Levy in North Carolina

Co-Counsel in DC v Heller, Levy will give a talk in Asheville, NC at 7 p.m. Oct. 8 at the UNC Asheville Reuter Center.

Felon shoots CPD officer

CPD Officer Nathaniel Taylor Jr. was murdered while serving a search warrant. The shooter, unsurprisingly, has an extensive record and was released early:

According to public records, Cooper was first convicted of burglary in 1989 and got 4 years' probation. In 1991, he was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 6 years in prison.

He was again convicted of burglary in 2003 and sentenced to 6 years in prison, but was released late the next year.

So, convicted felon, early release, illegal gun.

This seems to be becoming the standard.

Update: It seems the 1991 conviction was for shooting at a police officer as well. He served only 3 yrs on that one.

Indy Blogmeet goes Tri-state

At the Broad Ripple Brew Pub :



Roberta
TurkTuron
Old Grouch
Friends



Tam
Ahab
Yours Truly

Walking around Hippieville:




A bunch of rocks.



And some standing stones too.

Good Company. Good Food. Lots of gun talk.

It was worth the drive.

Less Police won't increase crime..

According to Chicago Mayor Daley.

"No, no," said Daley when asked about the lack of new hires and the impact on safety. When pressed, Daley bristled and said, "It just won't."

SO is he saying that the CPD is so poor in quality that less of them won't make a difference?

With murder up 16% so far this year and overall violent crime up 3%, it makes one wonder what does effect crime in his fair city. Oh, right, it's all those gun owners in the rest of the state that are the cause.

I wish my deceased family members would stop voting for him.