Color Me Shocked

What happens when you release a bunch of violent criminals after serving only a few weeks of their sentence?

Why they go back to business as usual:

Of those released, Quinn said 56 are back in state custody. Of those, 48 are charged with violating the terms of their release, and eight have been charged with new offenses. Six were arrested for retail theft or drugs and one for domestic assault. Another inmate released Sept. 22 after an aggravated drunken driving conviction was arrested on the same charge less than a month later, records show.

And the traditional finger pointing begins:

Gov. Pat Quinn admitted Wednesday that state corrections officials made a "mistake" in putting hundreds of inmates back on the street after just a few weeks in prison and said he didn't know about his own administration's cost-cutting decision beforehand.

Doncha' just love politicians?

A New Look for DOOT

Well not to much. I'm not a big fan of changing things around. I did decide to go all professional w/ my business cards.

Front:
Back:


These were created by Graphic Designer Erin Konley. If you like her work, send some business her way. She can be reached at : erinkonley@gmail.com

And don't forget that the Unorganized Militia Patches, Stickers and Pins are still available if you haven't ordered yours yet.

Chicago's done.

Their brief has been submitted and is available here. Basically it's begging the court to keep 'precedent' and not overturn every crappy decision the court's made in the last 150 years.

The true desperation is shown in that they are still sticking to the 'collective rights' argument:

Nothing in the congressional debate
over the Amendment suggests any view that a
private arms right unconnected to preservation of the
militia was thought implicit in the concept of ordered
liberty.The scope of the Second Amendment right—
weapons in common use—also reflects its purpose of
protecting the militia, rather than an individual right
related to self-defense, since the Second Amendment
protects weapons regardless of whether they are
useful for self-defense.

They're done.

Update: More nonsense. They claim that overturning the gun ban will allow gang bangers to run rampant. As if they aren't already.

Are we really so far ahead that this is the best they can do?

Days of Our Trailes: 2009 Year in Review

Blog stats for the year 2009:

		Page Loads	Unique Visitors	First Time Visitors	Returning Visitors
Total		199,526	150,206	98,725	51,481
Average		547	412	270	141

On average, readership of DOOT has increased about 35% over last year. There are over 200 followers of this site on FB.

Most viewed pages:

10) Josh Sugarmann is a Sad Clown 1,254 views
9) Seeing the Future 50 yrs ago 1,323 views
8) Modern Militia Equipment II: Basic Field Gear 1,636 views
7) Why the confusion on 'Assault Weapons 1,710 views
6) Modern Militia: Vehicles 1,969 views
5) Ugh, Why Me Here? 2,133 views
4) Modern Militia: Uniforms 2,188 views
3) Modern Militia: Firearms 2,716 views
2)Unorganized Militia Propaganda Corps 7,568 views

And the #1 viewed page on Days of Our Trailers for 2009:

1) Unorganized Militia Gear 9,378 views

Top Ten referrers :

10) ViewfromthePorch 879 visitors
9) WaronGuns 2,054 visitors
8) Keyboard and a .45 2,699 visitors
7) Google/referrals 3,364 visitors
6) BredaFallacy 3,590 visitors
5) Xavierthoughts 4,099 visitors
4) LibertySphere 5,908 visitors
3) Google/organic 8,588 visitors

Sebastian and Bitter held their place at #2 for referrals.

2) Snowflakes in Hell 11,199 visitors

And w/ no real surprise, the #1 referrer to this site continued to be:

1) SayUncle w/ a whopping 19,179 visitors

The year was eventful. Kaveman joined DOOT as a co-blogger w/ his own unique view and some excellent posts. McDonald v Chicago is in full swing with things looking good for our side and the Brady Bunch effectively admitting defeat and Chicago desperately trying to cling to whatever vestiges of the ban they can. On the Federal level, we got the Amtrack bill and a few others. No major anti-gun bills have squeeked their way through. The states have been a mixed bag w/ the usual suspects like NJ, NY and CA passing laws that will in no way effect crime but other states showing their muscle by giving the proverbial middle finger to the ATF. I had a good time at the '09 NRA Convention. Wish I could have spent more time there.

Looking forward to the fun and games in 2010. Thanks for reading.

Happy New Year.

Destroying the Evidence

Gangbangers converge on LA County 'Gun Turn-In' to let the police destroy evidence of their crimes for them, no questions asked.

News at 11.

Update: Sailorcurt thinks the '58 guns' guy snookered them w/ rubber duckies.

What's new?

Something my buddy and I discussed awhile back is the dearth of firearm innovation for the civilian market.

Certainly there have been design improvements over time, but our focus was on truly ground-breaking technologies that would change the entire industry.

Once the ebil gun-loons settled on...

1. Centerfire metallic cartridges.
2. Smokeless powder(nitro-cellulose based).
3. Necked casings.

We kinda hit a wall in my view. Like I said, many improvements have been made to both guns and their ammunition but what was the last thing that impacted the entire industry?

The Mauser 98 bolt action design is probably still the best there is and semi-auto handguns have become smaller to compliment CCW laws sweeping the nation over the last few decades. But outside of the military, what was the last thing that changed everything.

More importantly, what do you THINK will be the next big breakthough?

One idea I had was a handgun which had its barrel directly in line with the center of your wrist and arm so that recoil would be directed straight rearward, into your shoulder, instead of your wrist being a pivot point for upward rotation. This would keep you on target for quick follow up shots.

Something like the palm pistol as far as alignment, but with more modern ergonomics and capacity.

AB 962's Real Purpose Realized Pt II

In Pt I, I noted CTD has issued a disclaimer on ammo sales. On further inquiry, their Customer Service Dept. has stated that "it will apply to every individual, business, and agency in CA".

Kudos to them.

Sportsman's Guide has not established a formal policy as of yet and I am waiting for responses from several other ammo distributors.

Bloomberg's 40 Theses

SIH has obtained a copy of the report that Bloomie nailed to the doors of Congress after his entrapment exercises at gun shows in various states.

For the most part it avoids the classic "We want to ban guns" mentality of groups like the Brady Campaign and VPC and instead focuses on well researched methods to use the bureaucracy of gun laws to reduce and restrict ownership as much as possible.

If your Mayor is a member of this group, you need to do everything in your power to either change their mind or get them out of office.



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Whoda thunk it?

I used to think that anti folks needed to shut the hell up.

Now?...hmmm?

Now, I think that their twisted thoughts need to be preserved and disseminated to everyone on the interweb tubes.

Sorry, I didn't provide any specific examples, the crap fest is happening all around me. I feel dirty, and need a shower badly.

Maybe when I'm done.

Dissenting Opinion + Push Poll = Irrelevancy

The Brady Campaign, as they slide towards irrelevancy, continue their attack on due process. Since all their previous arguments have been ground into the dust by the use of facts, historical evidence and logic, they have been forced to rely on a dissenting opinion to a case that has nothing to do w/ firearm rights. Instead it was a case in where a Chicago law restricting free speech was found un-Constitutional.

As their "Reasoned Discourse' series was used as an excuse to censure, then end, and later delete comments on their blog, (and where the mocking phrase originated) it comes as no surprise that they would cite a judge who also supported extensive restrictions on freedom of speech.

And they continue to tout the poll written by professional lobbyists for the anti-gun MAIG as somehow being representative of NRA members.

SIH has more.



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AB 962's Real Purpose Realized

AB 962. The bill signed by the Governator to register ammo sales.

From the Brady Bunch:

AB 962 was the Brady Campaign’s top priority bill in this year’s legislature.

"Reasonable, Common-sense" gun laws in action.

From Cheaper Than Dirt:

As of January, 2011 we will no longer sell or ship ammunition to residents of California.

Does anything else need to be said?

Parolees on Parade

What would you do if you were on a parole board and had a guy come before you that was convicted of murder in '85 and then had multiple convictions, while in prison, of assaulting prison guards?

If your answer was "Why, let him out. He's obviously reformed." You would fall right in line w/ the Illinois "Justice" system. It would also come as a complete surprise to you that this pillar of society decided to return to his nefarious ways and murder a 79 yr old man on X-mas Eve.

Records show he was paroled in November 2008 from prison, where he had been held since 1985 for a murder a year before. He also was convicted in 2001 and 2005 of aggravated battery of a peace officer. In the earlier incident, he assaulted at least two prison guards at Pinckneyville Correctional Center who tried to get him to remove personal property from his cell. Officials at the time said Cration had "an extensive history of violence, including ten staff assaults and one inmate assault along with five 'dangerous disturbances,' " according to an Associated Press story.

But remember, according to gun control advocates, it's firearm owners and those who are licensed to carry concealed that we should be worried about.

QOTD

I regard the federal government of the United States of America as a severely degraded version of the Republican principles of the Constitution of the United States, particularly the Bill of Rights. But at least those documents give us a lofty standard by which to judge its lack of fidelity to its founding principles.

-J. Neil Schulman

Joyce Propaganda Continued

Continuing the series on anti-gun and associated messages being presented by the media comes an episode of "Criminal Minds" from 2006 called "The Tribe".

While it aired several years before the release of the numerous 'Right Wing Militia' reports , it refers to the Minuteman movement and a local (fictional) group called the "American Defense Unit". Quote: "They're kind of like the Minutemen on the boarder but instead of Mexicans, they hate Indians"

They pull the leader in as a suspect in the latest killings and laugh at him as he talks about his 'rights'. Quote: "You have 200 people in your group and over 450 guns. That's not self-defense, that's overkill. "

200 people and 450 guns is 'overkill'? That is less than a shotgun, rifle and handgun per person and they consider this a 'militant group'?

Nevermind the contradiction that one of the main characters was specifically mentioned as carrying two firearms.

Nevermind the fact that there's no way that they would know how many guns this group owned (unless it was advertised ) because NM doesn't have licensing or registration.

There was also a nice spiel about "21 Feet". Basically they said a gun is useless against anyone within 21 feet of you because they can get to you before you can react. Outside of 21 ft you have other options like running away.

The 'militia' turned out to have nothing to do w/ the crime of the week. It was just convenient to throw all that in.

Brady Bunch logic

This is a little nugget I found over at the Brady Center. I won't add to their google-fu by linking to them but I'm sure most readers can find their home page without too much trouble. NOTE: this is the "Brady Center" not the Brady Campaign page.

"The Legal Action Project, along with the Center for Constitutional Litigation, filed a petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court on August 24, 2009, asking the Court to strike down a federal gun industry immunity law as unconstitutional.

The case, Adames v. Beretta, arises out of the accidental shooting death of 13 year old Josh Adames, who was killed by another boy as a result of a defective Beretta handgun.

On May 5, 2001, thirteen-year old Billy Swan found his father’s Beretta 92FS handgun and removed the magazine that contained its ammunition, believing that this action had unloaded the gun. But the gun did not contain one of several commonplace safety features that warned users when a round remained in the chamber or prevented the gun from firing when “unloaded” in this fashion. Believing the gun was unloaded, Billy pulled the trigger, and the bullet hidden in the chamber killed his friend Josh."

This truly shows their desparation and just how low they'll stoop.

1. The immunity law still allows lawsuits for defective firearms, as it should.
2. The Brady Center is now forced into taking the ridiculous position that a loaded gun that fires when the safety is off and the trigger is pulled is defective.
3. This implies that a loaded gun which does not fire with the safety off and the trigger pulled is functioning properly.

So much for common sense.

Building bridges

A repetitive theme on the various gun blogs has been to “come out of the closet” and let your friends, family and co-workers know that you are indeed a “gun nut.”

Having worked at the same company for the last 15 years, I have been there and done that. MY friends and family have been well informed for some time now. It truly is the work place where bridges can be built between those who are ignorant or openly hostile to the 2A. Access to a broad cross section of society I would not normally be exposed to, has allowed me….uh….well….access to them.

I certainly didn’t start out that way, 15 years ago. At that time, gun ownership was as uncontroversial to me as car ownership. I thought everyone was armed.

Spelled out in our “New Employee Orientation” notebook was the fact that carrying a knife at work was immediate grounds for termination. Knives were lumped in with guns and explosives as firing offenses.

Wow.

I have been carrying a knife every day since the age of 6, and I wasn’t prepared to stop now. I had a choice to make. At first, I switched to carrying a concealed knife, rather than the openly displayed pocket folder I was used to. It didn’t take to long after witnessing some of my peers openly carrying some serious Bowie blades on their hip for me to relax my standards a bit. While not exactly “Crocodile Dundee”, seeing those around me openly carrying bladed weapons and receiving ZERO attention, I decided to go back to openly carrying my trusty folder.

After 10+ years of openly carrying a tactical blade at work. I have never received a single comment about it other than a co-worker asking to borrow it for some required activity. More times than not, the request was made only because the knife they were carrying wasn’t sharp enough to get the job done. I also make it a point to “whip it out” every year at our annual Christmas party to open my White Elephant gift.

Management. Says. NOTHING.

Perhaps it’s because they already trust me handling Bunsen burners, liquid nitrogen and concentrated nitric acid.

Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that my manager also carries a knife at work.

Back to my point. Everyone in my immediate work group now knows that I am indeed a gun-nut. I’m the guy they ask when they…

1. Want to know a fair price for firearm “X”.
2. The best home defense weapon.
3. The best weapon for the wife who “has small hands.”
4. An appropriate weapon for a 13 year old daughter.
5. Good deals on bulk ammo.

And then there are the neutrals who ask me what types of guns I own and why. This is where the prize lies.

One of my neutral peers seems genuinely curious about my “hobby.” I call it that because that’s how he views it and I have not gone out of my way to alter that perception, mainly because it is accurate.

I have spent hours with him, at his request, explaining that regardless of ones personal views of gun ownership, firearms are a piece of history and their collection is no different than those who covet old stamps or coins. Noone can deny that firearms have played a pivotal role in human history and he does appreciate that. At first, his perception was that my collection was little more than “wall hangers.” Again, I did not immediately try to alter that perception. He seemed to like the idea that I deliberately stored/displayed my 98 Muaser next to the Garand, my AK-47(s) next to my AR-15(s) after I explained the relationship.


OK, I’ve rambled for a bit simply because I gave my word to Thirdpower that I would post something everyday in his absence and this is currently what’s spilling out of my head.

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that the neutrals in the 2A debate are comparable to “independents” in the political arena.

Engage them without scaring them. Yes, by all means “come out of the closet” as a gun nut.

I only ask that you consider the packaging you’re presenting on the store shelf. We’re never going to convert the true antis to a pro-2A position. That’s a lost cause. The true expansion of our freedoms lies in people who are neutral enough to listen to the arguments made and form a position based on what they know of you as an individual.

Come out of the closet, and continue working side by side with others as a human being.

Some will see contradiction of epic proportions, most will see you as no more dangerous than coin collectors.

This is how we will win.

Back door of trailer still open

I got to thinkin’.

Why does the Brady Bunch oppose CCW laws? This is a serious question. Our side has knee jerk reactions as well and I really want to dig deep into this query.

*disclaimer…When referring to the Brady Campaign specifically, I will use that title. “Brady Bunch” encompasses all anti 2A groups.

We’ve all seen the big push in light of Heller from the antis concerning CCW. They lost some major ground with the 2A being recognized as an individual Right, scrubbed their sites of all references to the collective rights nonsense, launched a new site titled “Concealed Carry Killers” and latched onto the one little butt nugget like a starving dog being tossed a piece of unseasoned tofu shaped like a meat bone.

Heller was about the Right to carry inside one’s home.

Working within that framework, CCW is a prime target, albeit a very challenging one since 48 states are either “shall issue,” or “may issue.” Yes, Vermont and Alaska are no issue carry states and Only 2 of the 50 states are “no issue.” Yeah yeah, some of the “may issue” states are in practice “no issue” by practice but my focus is on “shall issue.” The main point to take away is that the number of states which absolutely refuse to issue any type of carry permit is equal to the number of states which don’t require any sort of permit to carry a firearm concealed.

Back to the original question…Why does the Brady Bunch oppose CCW laws?

The ultimate goal of the antis is to have fewer and fewer people able to exercise their 2A Rights, period.

The fact that I carry a firearm(actually I carry two since Oregon is 1 of only 2 states which does not limit the number of guns carried) I am open to engaging in the very behavior the Brady Bunch assumes.

If I screw up and misuse my concealed carry, I lose my 2A Rights forever. Isn’t that what they assume I will do and ultimately want.

From a totally objective standpoint, the Brady Bunch should support CCW laws in the hopes that we will abuse the Right and therefore lose it forever.

The fact that CCW permit holders are more law-abiding then the LEO’s that issue the permits seems to be a bit of irony for me, and a major thorn in the side of the antis.

UPDATE: I just sent an email to Oregon Firearms Federation for some clarification on which states restrict CCW permit holders to carrying a single gun or have laws which could be intrepreted that way due to the wording. They're pretty quick about responding to emails and I'll update again when I hear back from them. Until then, I would suggest reading your own state laws through the eyes of a lawyer, like Dennis Henigan.

Closed for the Holidays

The Trailer is locked although Kaveman may still scribble something on the walls. Back in a few days.

Boo Hoo...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – An attorney for the man charged in the deadly shootings at Fort Hood says the Army has prohibited his client from praying in Arabic with his family.

Attorney John P. Galligan said police stopped a phone conversation between Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan and his brother on Friday because it was not in English. Galligan told the San Antonio Express-News that police at Brooke Army Medical Center refused to let Hasan pray in Arabic.

Galligan says he thinks that's illegal and violation of Hasan's religious rights.

Think anyone has any sympathy for him?

New Shooters v. Anti-shooters

A while back I did a post on how gun owners, unlike gun banners, have a community of positive mutual interest and support, including clubs, businesses, and family/friends outings. Just like w/ other hobbies and enthusiasts, we enjoy teaching people about it and getting them to experience the same joys that we get.

Both Breda and Robb took people to the range over the weekend that had never shot before. Everyone had a good time.

An old High School friend of mine, after reading some of my posts, decided last weekend to start the process for him and his wife to get a firearm in Illinois. He is, in his own words, a 'total virgin', so I'm treating him gently and will respect him in the morning. We're currently discussing going about picking out the best firearm for them, training and safety issues.

How many gun control advocates do you think convinced firearm owners to sell their guns and never shoot again?