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Friday Follies

April 22, 2016 by 7 Comments

I grew up in Guilford County, North Carolina and lived there until I moved to the mountains. Thus, when I saw this story about a certain road sign being stolen all the time and steps being taken to prevent it, I knew I had a blog post.

Looking at the map of Guilford County below, you will see the major cities of Greensboro and High Point. You will also see smaller communities like Browns Summit, Pleasant Garden, and Whitsett among others. There are other place names that when connected together make an amusing combination. Take a look at the red line that goes from the county’s south-western border through High Point and thence along the southern part of the county towards the eastern border.

Click on map to embiggen.

Guilford County: From Horneytown to Climax by way of High Point.

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What If The Palestinians Were “State Representatives” To UNSCAR

April 21, 2016 by

A post on the Volokh Conspiracy by Eugene Kontorovich from Tuesday caught my eye. He was discussing the demand of 28 US senators that funding for the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change be stopped. The reason that they were demanding that US funding to this UN agency be stopped is that the Palestinian Authority has been accepted by that agency as a “state party”.

Federal law bars any funding for U.N. agencies or affiliates that “grants full membership as a state to any organization or group that does not have the internationally recognized attributes of statehood.” In the official U.S. view, “Palestine” is not a state. Thus when the Palestinian Authority joined the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2011, it triggered federal defunding of that organization. Now, federal law requires a similar cessation of any funding to UNFCCC.

The purpose of Professor Kontorovich’s article to speculate what might happen if the Obama Administration ignored the clear law that prohibits the funding. However, for my purposes, the article made me speculate how this law could be used to cut funding of the UN’s gun control efforts.

The Arms Trade Treaty is administered by UN Trust Facility Supporting Cooperation on Arms Regulation or UNSCAR. While the United States has not ratified the treaty, it is a signatory to it. The Arms Trade Treaty seeks to control not only major weapons systems but also small arms and ammunition. As of now, the Palestinian Authority is not considered a “state representative” to UNSCAR insofar as I can tell. That said, UNSCAR has two current projects going in the Arab and Middle Eastern states.

It would be in the interest of gun rights NGOs like the National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation to lobby to get the Palestinian Authority full recognition as a state and full membership in UNSCAR. While neither organization nor its members usually have much love for the Palestinian Authority given its connections to Hamas and the PLO, getting them recognized as a state representative does cut potential funding for more international gun control efforts.

In my view, that is a good thing.

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An Idea I Could Support

April 20, 2016 by

The Treasury Department announced today that they plan to replace the picture of President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill with one of abolitionist, Underground Railroad conductor, and Union spy Harriett Tubman.

Tubman was no pacifist. Her pistol and ivory-handled sword were on display at Florida A&M University’s museum back in 2013. As Comfortably Smug suggests in the Tweet below, the picture of Tubman on the $20 bill should feature her holding her pistol.

I quite agree that Republicans – the party behind abolition in the first place – should push for this portrait of Tubman to grace the new $20 bill. Call your Representatives and Senators to demand this!

UPDATE: David Burge aka Iowahawk suggests another picture in this Tweet.

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Resilience

April 19, 2016 by 1 Comment

Today is the two-hundred-forty-first anniversary of General Gage’s attempt at gun control that sparked a revolution. It is also a story of resilience and courage at the beginning of this nation.

Capt. John Parker had lost eight men killed and ten wounded to British Regulars on Lexington Green early on the morning of April 19th. Parker, a veteran of the Battles of Quebec and Louisburg during the French and Indian War, was also dying from tuberculosis and would succumb to it five months later at the age of 46.

One might have thought that Capt. Parker having just lost about a quarter of his militia company and dying from consumption would have retired home to lick his wounds. However, Parker showed a resilience that became a hallmark of the American colonists over the next eight years as they fought for their independence from Great Britain.

In what became to be known as “Parker’s Revenge”, he reorganized his men on a hillside overlooking a curve in the road between Lincoln and Lexington. There he and his men, many of whom were wounded, awaited the return of the British soldiers from Concord. The hillside was reported to be dense with brush and strewn with boulders behind which the militia obtained cover.

When Parker’s men sprung their ambush, this time it was the British who paid the heavier price.

Parker waited until the regulars were directly in front his men, then opened fire with a volley that wounded Colonel Smith in the thigh and knocked him from his saddle. The front of the column stopped briefly under the fire, which was the worst possible reaction. As the rear of the column packed into its front, Major Pitcairn galloped up to get the regulars moving again. With Smith wounded, Pitcairn assumed active command of the column and sent troops up the hill to drive the Lexington militia away. The regulars succeeded, but this took time and allowed other militia and minute companies to get ahead of the column again and continue the ring of fire. The provincials were able to ambush the regulars again just a few hundred yards down the road.

Militiaman Jedediah Munroe, who had been wounded earlier in the day at Lexington Green, died in the ambush as did several British soldiers.

The site of Parker’s Revenge has been the subject of recent archaeological studies as well as National Park Service research. One of the findings is that the two opposing sides were within 80 yards of one another.

The lessons from Parker’s Revenge are obvious. We need to be resilient in the face of challenges from forces that on the face of it are stronger. Put in the context of gun rights, we face an enemy that is better funded due to Michael Bloomberg, that has a fawning and compliant mainstream media behind it, and that has the weight of many politicians behind it. We may lose a number of battles but, if we stay resilient, we will maintain and (hopefully) broaden our God-given rights.

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Quote Of The Day

April 18, 2016 by 2 Comments

The Wall Street Journal ran a story this weekend entitled, “The Stigmatized Olympians“. It was about the success of American shooters in the Olympics and the reluctance of some Americans to celebrate their accomplishments. American shooters have won more gold medals for the United States than in any other sport with the exceptions of swimming and track-and-field.

A good part of the story was about five time Olympic medalist Kim Rhode who is seeking to qualify for her sixth Olympics. Kim points out how the mainstream media treats competitive shooters and the shooting sports differently than other sports.

“Our sport has an unfortunate stigma attached to it,” says Rhode, a 36-year-old Southern Californian. Following December’s deadly shooting rampage in nearby San Bernardino, the media sought out comment from Rhode, who expressed sorrow for the victims and support for gun rights. Why should that crime have placed her in the spotlight? she asks: “You don’t hear them asking Nascar drivers to comment on crimes involving cars.”

Nor, I might add, do you see lawsuits brought against GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and all the other automakers when a drunk driver runs into a school bus and kills children. Contrast that with the grasping at straws lawsuit against Remington Outdoor Company brought against them for making the AR-15 stolen by the killer in Newtown.

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Haywood County Commissioners Are At It Again

April 18, 2016 by 2 Comments

The Haywood County (NC) Commissioners are at it again. They must have thought people would be mollified by their tabling of the carry restrictions on county property – some of which were illegal – so they have decided to bring up their proposal to regulate “commercial” outdoor shooting ranges.

As I noted in an earlier post, the range of the Haywood County Sheriff’s Department would not meet the standards that the commissioners seem that they can require of “commercial” ranges. This range is also used by the Maggie Valley PD and the Canton PD. I’m not sure where the Clyde PD does their qualifications.

The Waynesville PD uses the Waynesville Police Association range off of Howell Mill Road in Waynesville. This range would most definitely fail the new standards if it was applied to them. My former residence was approximately a mere 100 feet beyond the distance required from the range to an occupied building. Many of my former neighbors would not be so lucky. Moreover, this range fails the 300 foot property line setback requirement.

I find it the height of hypocrisy to require a “commercial” range to jump through multiple hoops that the county by ordinance would exempt themselves from. As the alert from Grass Roots North Carolina makes clear, if you have a backyard private range and you allow a concealed carry instructor to use it, it becomes a “commercial” range. Likewise, if you sponsored an Appleseed shoot, it would become a “commercial” range.

If you live in Haywood County or WNC, if you travel or vacation in Haywood County, or if you just want to express your outrage at the commissioners’ hypocrisy, please read the GRNC alert below and act on it.

VOTE MONDAY COULD RESTRICT RIGHT TO SHOOT ON PRIVATE
PROPERTY
A
public hearing will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 18th in the
Haywood County
Courtroom of the Historic Courthouse. In late March, the board took
comment on restrictions on display and carry of firearms on county
property and on
a second ordinance restricting “commercial” shooting ranges. In what
might be a deliberate distraction by what many now see as the
“Haywood County Board of Dictators,” however, it appears that the
restrictions on display and carry – which drew outrage from
hundreds of citizens – might have been intended to let the commission
slip through, with minimal opposition, restrictions to shooting on
private
property.
 THE FEINT?
Although the proposed ban on display and carry of firearms Haywood County property appears to have been removed from their
website, you can see it at http://bit.ly/1RA6x1U.
In response to withering opposition, the county seemed to blink in a
March 31 press release saying the ordinance would not be voted on during
their
April 4 meeting. Interestingly, the item has not been returned to the
agenda for the April 18 meeting.
GRNC President Paul Valone spoke against the proposal at a meeting attended by more than 400 GRNC members and county
residents who uniformly opposed it. You can view his remarks in this YouTube Video.
Although the Haywood County manager
attempted to justify the ban by claiming it had been on the books since
1995 and that the county was simply trying to comply with recent changes
to
the law, in truth their proposal would unlawfully ban concealed carry
throughout Allen’s Creek Park.
Rather than justifying prohibitions on lawful citizens protecting themselves against criminals and terrorists, Haywood
County should join 12 other North Carolina counties which have recently removed such restrictions on county property. In a recent editorial,
Robert A. Lovingood, Vice Chair of
the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, responded to the
horrific acts of terrorism in his county by advocating that selected
County employees
and concealed handgun permit holders be allowed to carry on county
property. Rather than sticking their heads in the sand, Haywood County
commissioners should be looking to harden soft targets which are
vulnerable to both criminals and terrorists.
THE REAL POWER GRAB?
The
County Commissioners will vote Monday on an ordinance to define and
restrict “commercial” outdoor shooting
ranges. Unfortunately, if a private property owner were to build even a
rudimentary structure for shooting on his property and then hired a
concealed
handgun instructor to conduct a class on the property for his family —
even once — that property would become a “commercial shooting
range”, requiring him to first obtain a permit from the county.
Say you and a few
friends just share the cost of a private club? Fuggedaboutit. No
exceptions are made for private clubs. If shooting takes place and money
changes
hands, you are the proud owner of a “commercial outdoor shooting range.”
As
the
owner of a “commercial” range, you would be subject to onerous
restrictions, including requirements that shooting stations and targets
be
more than 300 feet from property lines and ¼ mile from occupied
buildings. You would have to build 6 foot fences, post warning signs,
store
firearms and ammunition per BATFE regulations, and restrict shooting to
within stipulated daylight hours. And if you liked those, you’re going
to love this one, straight out of the proposed commercial range
ordinance:
“Liability insurance. The permitee [sic] shall be required to carry a minimum of two million dollars ($2,000,000.00
– USA) per occurrence of liability insurance. Such insurance shall name Haywood County as an additional
insured party and shall
save and hold Haywood County, its elected and appointed officials, and
employees
acting within the scope of their duties harmless from and against all
claims, demands, and causes of action of any kind or character,
including
the cost of defense thereof, arising in favor of a person or group’s
members or employees or third parties on the account of any property
damage,
personal injury, or wrongful death arising out of the acts or omissions
of the permittee, his/her group, club, or its agents or
representatives.”

IMMEDIATE ACTION
REQUIRED!

  • EMAIL &
    CALL     THE HAYWOOD COUNTY
    COMMISSIONERS    .
    Urge them to vote
    against the gun-ban ordinance. Below, find a copy/paste email list,
    and under ‘Deliver This Message,’ you’ll find a copy/paste email
    message
    to send.

 EMAIL CONTACT INFO
County Commissioners copy/paste email
list: 
markswanger@bellsouth.net; kirk@jwklaw.net; lkensley@bellsouth.net; sorrells@cbvnol.com; billupton@bellsouth.net

PHONE INFO

MARK S. SWANGER, Chairman                                   
Phone: 828-627-6109 (h)
Cell: 828-507-2315
J. W. “KIRK” KIRKPATRICK, III, Vice
Chairman       
Phone: 828-452-0801 (w)
Fax: 828-452-1861
L. KEVIN ENSLEY,
Commissioner                                                          
Phone: 828-627-3765 (h)
Cell: 828-734-8713
MICHAEL T. SORRELLS, Commissioner                                          
Phone: 828-926-9549 (h)
Cell: 828-506-2174
BILL L. UPTON, Commissioner                              
Phone: 828-648-7469
Cell: 507-2129


ATTEND THE COUNTY COMMISSION
MEETING THIS MONDAY, APRIL 18. Join GRNC President F. Paul Valone at this critical event. See details below: 


WHEN: 
Monday, April 18, 2016 5:30 PM
WHERE:
Historic Courthouse
Haywood County
Courtroom
215 N. Main St.
Waynesville, NC
HINTS:
Dress for the press! Please no offensive signs, slogans or clothing.
Be sure
to arrive early, as seating may be limited.


DELIVER THIS MESSAGE
Haywood County Commissioners:

I
am outraged by what is either a deception or a
two front power grab being perpetrated by the commission. First, you
tried to restrict concealed carry in Allen’s Creek Park in violation of
state law. And although other restrictions on County property might be
permissible, creating “victim disarmament zones” invariably leads
to predation of the lawful citizens by criminals, sociopaths, and
terrorists. 
Rather
than
justifying prohibitions on lawful citizens protecting themselves
against criminals and terrorists, Haywood County should join 12 other
North
Carolina counties which have recently removed such restrictions on
county property. In a recent editorial, Robert A. Lovingood, Vice Chair
of the San
Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, responded to the horrific acts
of terrorism in his county by advocating that selected county employees
and
concealed handgun permit holders be allowed to carry on county property.
Rather than sticking their heads in the sand, Haywood County
commissioners
should be looking to harden soft targets which are vulnerable to both
criminals and terrorists. 
But
now that proposal appears to be at least temporarily shelved in favor
of onerous restrictions which could prohibit
private property owners from shooting on their land. Under this
proposal, if a private property owner were to build even a rudimentary
structure for
shooting on his property and then hired a concealed handgun instructor
to conduct a class on the property for his family — even once — that
property
would become a “commercial shooting range”, requiring him to first
obtain a permit from the county. 
As
the owner of a “commercial” range, he would be subject to onerous
restrictions, including requirements that
shooting stations and targets be more than 300 feet from property lines
and ¼ mile from occupied buildings. He would have to build 6 foot
fences, post warning signs, store firearms and ammunition per BATFE
regulations, restrict shooting to within stipulated daylight hours, and
pay for $2
million in liability insurance that would indemnify you! 
I demand you immediately
shelf this commercial range proposal, and I will be monitoring your actions through Grass Roots North Carolina alerts. 
Respectfully,
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Learning From The Masters

April 12, 2016 by 3 Comments

If you watched golf on TV this weekend, you saw 2015 Masters champion Jordan Spieth essentially melt down on his last 9 holes in this year’s Masters. He was leading at the time and his meltdown allowed the steadier British golfer Danny Willett to win.

John Farnam had some comments on what we could learn from this in his Farnam’s Quips that were published yesterday. He has graciously given me permission to reprint it here.

“Positive outcomes don’t necessarily demonstrate superior play. Superior
play will lead to positive outcomes more often than will poor play, but
even poor players sometimes catch lucky.


It is when you confuse catching lucky with playing well, that demons sneak
in!”


John Vorhaus


Yesterday, I watched the final round of the four-day 2016 Masters Golf
tournament in Augusta, GA.


Not being a golfer myself, I still love watching these consummate
professionals play this game at the highest level. Their skill is a wonder to
behold!


Jordan Spieth, last year’s winner, was the odds-on favorite, and no
wonder! He was ahead of everyone else for the entire tournament. By the last
nine holes of the final round, he was so far ahead, I thought, as did many,
he was unbeatable!


Then, demons crept in!


And, I felt a kinship with Spieth, as he fell so suddenly, and so
ignominiously, from glory, because I, and many of my instructors, have done the
same thing- more that once!


The question is:


How much continuous, simultaneous bad news can you handle, and still retain
your sanity? At what point do you unwittingly open the window, and let
demons sneak in?


At its best, golf, like fighting, is a smooth, coordinated, orchestrated
flow of events, a seamless whirlwind of motion. That is, until you:


1) Stray from the present tense


2) Get distracted and allow your concentration to dissipate


3) Start hesitating


4) Start getting in your own way


5) Try to alter an otherwise smooth-flowing technique right in the middle


6) Allow doubt an vacillation to consume you


7) Are swept-up in rapidly-compounding disasters and discover that you aren
’t recovering quickly enough!


During the final day of the tournament, there were three holes-in-one (by
other contestants), and the media, of course, swooped-in to cover those.
And, there were many other spectacular shots that also garnered the attention
fo the media. These events were as melodramatic as they were irrelevant.
None of them materially affected the outcome. They never do!


Then we had the humble Englishman, Danny Willett. A great champion to be
sure, or he would not have been there, but I never heard of him until
yesterday!


Willett’s game was devoid of “great shots.” He played steady, careful,
solid golf. However, he had no bogies either! When Spieth blundered, and
the door opened, Willett gracefully walked through, and never looked back!!


And, if you’re wondering if there is a point lurking in the foregoing, it
is this:



“It’s not ‘great shots’ that save you. It’s ‘little mistakes’ that kill
you!”


True in fighting, as well as golf.


The Hollywood, overdramatized version of events always draws attention to
occasional, glamorous (and irrelevant) “great shots.” Like the cavalry
arriving in the ‘nick of time,’ great shots always save the day, and we all
live happily ever after!


Rubbish!


That manufactured nonsense only happens in movies!


When you’re making little mistakes, episodic great shots won’t save you, as
we see!


So, we concentrate on correcting mistakes. It’s not glamorous, nor
entertaining, nor even interesting, at least to the shallow and self-centered.


In fighting, as in golf, the wise work to eliminate “little mistakes.”
The “great shots” will take care of themselves!


“Darling, my legs aren’t so beautiful. I just know what to do with them!”


Marlene Dietrich


/John

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Hyperbole And Lies

April 7, 2016 by 6 Comments

We have come to expect both hyperbole and lies from the gun prohibitionists. The email I received today from Mr. Gabby Giffords (aka Capt. Mark Kelly, USN (Ret)) of Americans for Responsible Solutions contained both. The letter was advocating the addition of people on the so-called terrorist watch list to the NICS banned list.

Kelly’s lie was particularly egregious but not surprising.

Just a few years ago, al-Qaeda encouraged potential terrorists to to take advantage of loopholes in our laws, saying “America is absolutely awash with easily obtainable firearms. You can go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle, without a background check, and most likely without having to show an identification card. So what are you waiting for?”

While this is a quote attributed to al-Qaeda, no effort was made to correct it. Just as I learned in catechism classes, there are sins of commission and sins of omission. This was a sin of omission as he knew full well that fully automatic firearms are covered under the National Firearms Act, that they are highly regulated, and that the supply of new firearms is constrained by the Hughes Act.

By repeating the lies of terrorists, he was trying to sow fear in the minds of the uninformed. He then blames the evil “gun lobby” for blocking efforts to expand the NICS banned list which conflates those of us who oppose using the terrorist watch list with terrorist themselves.

The reason Mark Kelly has to use lies and hyperbole is that his argument is weak. If he had a good argument, he could just state the facts. Since he doesn’t, he can’t.

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Every Picture Tells A Story, Part V

April 7, 2016 by 10 Comments

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R-ID) signed “permitless” concealed carry (aka constitutional carry) into law on March 27th. It allows Idaho citizens age 21 and over to carry concealed without a permit within city limits. They already had this right outside city limits. This made Idaho the ninth state to have constitutional carry.

On Tuesday, the Mississippi House of Representatives concurred with the Mississippi Senate on amendments to HB 786. The Senate amendments expanded what was originally just a church carry bill into one that included that and constitutional carry. The amended bill passed both houses with veto proof majorities. The bill now goes to Gov. Phil Bryant (R-MS) who is expected to sign the bill. That would make Mississippi the tenth state to have constitutional carry and the third to pass it this year. Some have criticized the bill as also including “nullification”.  Actually the bill doesn’t include nullification as it merely states that Mississippi officials and law enforcement don’t have an obligation to enforce Federal gun control laws which is in line with existing Supreme Court precedent.

Given that the number of states with constitutional carry has increased to 10, Rob Vance and I concluded it was time to update the graphic showing the spread of freedom. The graphic below shows how the United States has moved from no carry to shall-issue and permitless carry over the last 30 years. As I said a few years ago, shall-issue is the new norm. Maybe one day I’ll be able to change this to constitutional carry is the new norm.

Here are the population statistics that accompany the above graphic:

0.4% No Issue, HI
27.0% May Issue, CA,DC,MD,MA,NJ,NY,RI
65.4% Shall Issue
7.2% Unrestricted, AK,AR,AZ,ID,KS,ME,MS,VT,WV,WY

At the same time that shall-issue and permitless or constitutional carry have expanded, violent crime has decreased. While correlation isn’t causation, I do think this is significant. When this graphic was first developed, Rob noted that there was no positive correlation between carry and violent crime. Unfortunately, he also noted that a negative correlation has not yet been proved. Linoge at Walls of the City has been studying gun ownership and the incidence of violent crime for a number of years. His latest is posted here. He has a similar result. Thus, neither more guns or less restrictive carry means more crime.