Uncategorized

Uncategorized

Staten Island Screwed By FEMA Again

November 7, 2012 by

Staten Island isn’t like the rest of New York City. It is smaller, greener, more family oriented, and less of a concrete jungle. My Mom used to tell me stories of growing up on Staten Island when there were celery farms. Perhaps its differences is what has made it the forgotten borough.

Now it looks like FEMA which was late bringing assistance to Staten Island after Sandy is abandoning them again.

From DNAInfo.com/Stephanie Keith

This really pisses me off.

My ties to Staten Island run deep and it hurts me to see islanders treated like this. My mother grew up there, went to high school there, and went to college there as did her sister and brother. My grandfather was the Tax Assessor for the County of Richmond in the 1930s and 40s. My cousin Tom and his family still live in what was my grandparent’s last house.

You can read the full story in DNAInfo.com here.

Uncategorized

It Begins

November 7, 2012 by 3 Comments

It looks like the Obama Administration with their new found “mandate” isn’t going to wait until the second term actually begins to start work on more gun control.

From Reuters:


Hours after U.S. President Barack Obama was re-elected, the United States backed a U.N. committee’s call on Wednesday to renew debate over a draft international treaty to regulate the $60 billion global arms trade.

U.N. delegates and gun control activists have complained that negotiations collapsed in July largely because Obama feared attacks from Republican rival Mitt Romney if his administration was seen as supporting the pact, a charge the United States denies.

The month-long talks at U.N. headquarters broke off after the United States – along with Russia and other major arms producers – said it had problems with the draft treaty and asked for more time.

But the U.N. General Assembly’s disarmament committee moved quickly after Obama’s re-election to approve a resolution calling for a new round of talks March 18-28. It passed with 157 votes in favor, none against and 18 abstentions.

Supposedly this vote was to have taken place earlier but was delayed by Hurricane/TS Sandy which caused the UN to close down for three days. Put me down in the skeptical column over this.

The new round of talks begin in March. Moreover, even if the no agreement is reached, the Arms Trade Treaty remains on the UN’s agenda and the General Assembly could still vote on it in 2013.

The US Mission to the United Nations has “no comment”. Why bother when their actions say everything that needs be said.

Elections have consequences and we are already seeing evidence of that.

Uncategorized

As The Stock Markets Tumble….

November 7, 2012 by

The stock market is seeing an across the board sell-off today. As I write at approximately 12pm EST, all major stock market averages – the Dow, S&P 500, and the NASDAQ – are down approximately 2.3%. Part of it is news from Europe that a recession there is all but a certainty and part is the election results along with the “fiscal cliff”.

Coal stocks, as might be expected given Obama’s jihad against coal, are down even more.

But guess what two companies are seeing strong increases in their stock prices.

That’s right – Ruger and Smith & Wesson. Currently, Ruger (RGR) is up $2.40 or a 5.38% increase while Smith & Wesson (SWHC) is up 77 cents or an 8.14% increase over yesterday. Both of these are pure plays on the firearms market.

The ammo makers Olin (Winchester) and ATK (Federal) are down. However, they have other businesses besides just ammunition production. ATK, in addition to making ammunition, is a significant defense contractor while Olin is a big producer of chlor-alkali.

UPDATE: Bloomberg TV has noticed just how well gun makers’s stock is doing today as well.

Uncategorized

DoubleTap Chooses New Manufacturing Partner

November 7, 2012 by

DoubleTap Defense, formerly known as Heizer Defense, which announced back on October 11th that they were seeking a new manufacturer for their DoubleTap pistol has found one. It will be Azimuth Technology, LLC out of Naples, Florida.

From their press release:


ST. LOUIS, MO (November 7, 2012) – DoubleTap™ Defense, LLC announces today that it has chosen Florida-based Azimuth Technology, LLC to manufacture the DoubleTap™ concealed carry pistol. The DoubleTap Tactical Pocket Pistol was introduced at the 2011 NASGW show in Reno, Nevada.

“When we announced that DoubleTap was looking for a new manufacturing partner [October 2012], we were pleasantly surprised by the positive response from the firearms manufacturers and other precision manufacturing companies,” Ray Kohout, inventor and founder of DoubleTap™ Defense commented. “Our industry has been very supportive of the DoubleTap project and we are ultimately grateful. Out of all the responses we received, it became very clear that Azimuth Technology was the perfect fit in corporate philosophy, facility capability and plain, old-fashioned, roll-up-your-sleeves determination to bring this product to market in a timely fashion.”

The ultra-compact, no-snag, pistol in .45 or 9mm built on titanium or aluminum frames was well received by both industry media and firearms distributors with initial orders in the tens of thousands.

Azimuth Technology of Naples, Florida, is a state-of-the-art precision contract manufacturing facility. Azimuth produces products for various industries including defense, aerospace, oil/gas and many others. The Azimuth Technology facility boasts over 60 of the newest CNC precision machines capable of handling lot sizes from a mere 100 pieces to 1 million.

Azimuth Technology, founded by Len E. Zaiser and Len E. Zaiser IV, has over 50-years of manufacturing and business experience. Len Zaiser Sr. has founded seven different manufacturing companies that have employed thousands of people throughout his highly successful career. Len Zaiser Jr. is the President and co-founder of Azimuth Technology and former founder and co-founder of several area businesses.

Uncategorized

I’m Hanging It Up For The Night

November 7, 2012 by 3 Comments

I’ve had enough of politics for the night. I don’t know how the nation will turn out – not good is my suspicion – but North Carolina turned out fairly well.

Pat McCrory picked up the governor’s seat beating Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton (D-NC) rather handily. This will be the first time NC has had a Republican governor since 1988. The Lt. Governor’s race is currently too close to call.

In the US House, Republicans have picked up the 8th, 11th, and 13th congressional districts which were held by Democrats. It is too close to call in the 7th where Rep. Mike McIntyre (D) holds a 400 vote lead over State Sen David Rouzer (R). Gun owners win either way. The Congressional delegation will either be 9-4 Republicans or 10-3 Republican with the Senate split.

The Republicans look to hold on to their majorities in both the State Senate and House.

And the state was just called for Mitt Romney. We did our part and now it is up to the rest of the nation.

UPDATE: I see Fox and most of the others have called it for Obama. It isn’t going to be pretty for the next four years and Chris Christie can rot in hell as far as I’m concerned.

UPDATE II: In North Carolina, the General Assembly will be solidly Republican. In the State House, Republicans will hold 77 seats as compared to the Democrats 43. This looks to be a net gain of 9. The State Senate will remain under Republican control with 31 Republicans and 19 Democrats. This is no change.

 Rep. Mike McIntyre (R-7) held on to his seat in Congress by 508 votes. He did have the NRA endorsement while GRNC was supporting his opponent State Sen. David Rouzer. In the 8th District, the other Blue Dog Democrat, Larry Kissell lost by over 20,000 votes to Richard Hudson. The 11th and 13th Districts were open seats with Democrat incumbents who chose not to run for re-election.

Pat McCrory won the governorship with over 54% of the vote while Dan Forest squeaked by with about a 100,000 vote margin.

Finally, not that it matters in the greater scheme of things but Mitt Romney did win the state by about 97,000 votes.

On the state level, I think we have a better chance to get more reforms passed with regard to gun laws. I think restaurant carry along with a clarification of park carry will come before the General Assembly in the 2013 session and pass.

Uncategorized

Some Are More Equal Than Others

November 6, 2012 by

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor doesn’t think too much of our Second Amendmen rights. It is also apparent that she thinks she is much too important to stand in line to vote like the rest of us great unwashed.

Photo by @jeffkrehely

The photo above was taken by Jeff Krehely and posted to Twitter. He called her his most famous neighbor.

The publication DCist is perfectly OK with this.

Would we hold it against Sotomayor for jumping the line? Of course
not—the court is hearing arguments in two cases today, after all, and it
wouldn’t be any good for her to miss those because she’s trying to cast
her ballot.

That is bullshit.

If she was so concerned about missing arguments, she had plenty of opportunity to vote by either absentee ballot or by taking advantage of the District’s early voting. According to the DC Voter Guide, they had early voting available in all wards beginning as early as October 22nd and this included Saturdays.

Uncategorized

Ninety-Nine Judges

November 6, 2012 by

Tom Gresham devoted his entire three-hour show on Sunday to the elections and the impact that they will have on gun owners and gun rights. The guests ranged from the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre and Chris Cox to SAF’s Alan Gottlieb and NSSF’s Larry Keane. In addition, he interviewed attorney Alan Gura. The one thing every guest said about this election and gun rights was the critical importance of judicial appointments to securing gun rights.

The interview that really peaked my interest was with Alan Gura. Tom asked Alan straight out what would have happened if there had been a 5-4 majority with a Sotomayor or Kagan in that majority, could he have won Heller or McDonald? Alan’s response, “Probably not. I mean NO. There would be no way.”

Alan went on to say that lower Federal Court nominees rarely make the news and are often confirmed on voice votes. Given that few cases make it to the Supreme Court much of the case law is made at the District and Circuit Court levels.

Alan pointed out that there are currently 65 District Court vacancies, 15 Appeals Court vacancies, and another 19 judges who have indicated that they plan to retire or more into senior status. This means the next president will get to nominate at least 99 judges and probably more like 150-200 over the next four years. This does not even take into consideration a probable one to three Supreme Court nominations.

Remember this – all Federal judges serve a lifetime appointment. This means that the next president will get to nominate at a minimum one-tenth of all District Court judges and one-tenth of all Court of Appeals judges. The impact will be felt for years and years.

This is what this election is about: the future direction of the Federal judiciary and with it our rights as gun owners and Americans.

If you haven’t already voted, then you damn well better do it tomorrow. And when I say vote or voted, I sure as hell don’t mean for Obama.

UPDATE: I forgot to add that if Obama is re-elected and gets to replace one of the “Heller Five” then  Second Amendment litigation will grind to a halt. At the recent Gun Rights Policy Conference, Gene Hoffman of the CalGuns Foundation emphasized this point and said the best thing to do in that situation is to shut down Second Amendment litigation. The reason is that you can’t risk bringing a case that could end up before a decidedly unfriendly Supreme Court.

Uncategorized

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution And CSGV

November 5, 2012 by 1 Comment

There are times that I think that Josh Horwitz of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (sic) gets his ideas from outerspace and there are times I think he channels his inner Maoist student revolutionary. Today it appears he is looking to Chairman Mao and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution for his inspiration.

The stated goal of the Cultural Revolution was to enforce orthodoxy and to wipe out those who deviated from it. In China’s case, it meant Communist orthodoxy. One of the hallmarks of the Cultural Revolution was the public denunciation of those who may have deviated from this orthodoxy. So it is with Josh Horwitz who would have made a good Red Guard.

Today, in his column in Huffington Post, he attacked not only Kurt Hofmann but those gun bloggers who have stood with him.


It would be tempting to dismiss Hofmann as an aberration — an isolated extremist with little ability to inspire actual acts of violence — except for two important factors. The first is that Hofmann’s disturbing call to use IEDs against American service members has been defended by a broad swath of the pro-gun movement. This includes statements of support from “The War on Guns” blogger David Codrea, “No Lawyers — Only Guns and Money” blogger John Richardson, the pro-gun Calumet Foundation, “Gun Free Zone” blogger Miguel Gonzalez, “Guns Save Life” blogger John Boch, “Days of Our Trailers” blogger Roy Kubicek (AKA “Thirdpower”), “Shall Not Be Questioned” blogger/NRA election volunteer coordinator Keith Milligan (AKA “Sebastian”) and “Of Arms & the Law” blogger David Hardy, among others.

Second, and more important, is the man that Hofmann himself cites in his blog (on four separate occasions) as the inspiration behind his scheme to empower “budding militia ordnance engineers”: former Alabama militia leader Mike Vanderboegh.

The real target of Horwitz is not Kurt and not the other gun bloggers. It is Mike Vanderboegh. Horwitz devoted as much time attacking Mike and his online novel Absolved as he did the rest of us. That Horwitz feels so threatened by a middle-aged man who is in tremendously poor health is telling.

After reading the post and the comments, it is obvious to me that they hate the First Amendment as much as they do the Second Amendment. To be more precise, Josh Horwitz and his erstwhile Red Guard believe in freedom of speech for themselves but not for those who deviate from their notion of orthodoxy. Those of us who deviate must be silenced, denounced, and made to confess our sins.

The ironic thing is that during Mao’s Cultural Revolution, as the child of a physician father and a research scientist mother, it would have been Josh himself who was expelled from school and his parents made to confess their sins against the proletariat.

Josh Horwitz is just as much a totalitarian thug as the rest of his minions at CSGV. No amount of education at “the better schools” will ever change that.

UPDATE: Joe Huffman is upset that he wasn’t listed among the gun bloggers by Josh Horwitz. Moreover, he does know a thing or two about blowing things up.

Uncategorized

Actions On Taxes Have Consequences

November 5, 2012 by 1 Comment

I’ve written a couple of times about the Cook County “violence tax”. On Friday, the Cook County Board’s Finance Committee in a special meeting approved this tax.

Taxes are an important consideration for any business.

Outdoor (and firearm) retailer Cabela’s opened a large store in Hoffman Estates, IL in 2007. This is in the western part of Cook County. Soon after, the Cook County Board raised property taxes. Retailers are assessed based upon their retail space. Though it has a second floor, this Cabela’s store has closed that section and crammed everything into the first floor of the store in an effort to reduce their taxes.

In an article published yesterday in The American Thinker, Anthony Ciani speculates that the Hoffman Estates store may become the first Cabela’s to close down and this new firearms tax may be the reason.

When bullets only cost 3.5¢ to 20¢ apiece, a 5¢ tax is ridiculous, and $25 per gun is around 5% to 10% of the value of most guns. Preckwinkle dropped the bullet tax but the gun tax was just approved by the Finance Committee for a vote by the whole, along with a bunch of other tax increases. Primary season is long over with. The proposal is not an anti-gun tax, but retail vampirism disguised as sin taxes. The normal sales taxes in Cook County are already high, and the sales tax in the Village of Hoffman Estates is 9.5%. There is no reason for a person to pay a total tax of between 14.5% and 19.5% on a gun purchase in Cook County, when they can go 3 miles down the road to one of Illinois’ largest gun dealers, GAT Guns, in East Dundee, Kane County, where the sales tax is only 8.25%.

While Cabela’s has not indicated that they will close the store, Ciani says they have good reason to do it and offers some suggestions on how they can make it a win-win proposition for the company.

Read the whole article here.