Month: June 2011
by “Special Projects”
Mike Vanderboegh pointed out an article in Government Executive that seems to indicate that Ken Melson, Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, is digging in his heels about being pushed out of the agency. It surprises me a bit but I assume that his conditions on leaving are not being met by the political appointees in DOJ.
However, what really caught my eye in that article was a statement by Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign, who was opining that ATF’s problems were because they only had an Acting Director.
The fact that no one has been confirmed as ATF director is worrisome to Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “You can’t run an important agency or any agency with just an acting head,” he said. “It makes it hard to launch special projects and crime-fighting initiatives and get support from agents to carry them out. I’m a former mayor, and if we’d had an acting police chief, things would have spiraled out of control.”
Helmke “points the finger at Congress, because they made it a confirmable position, so either confirm someone or restructure the agency,” he said. “The issues in Fast and Furious need to be addressed to find out who’s responsible, but with an acting head, no one’s responsible.”
Ken Melson came on board to head ATF in April 2009. Project Gunrunner did not morph into Operation Fast and Furious until after that. If Operation Fast and Furious was not a special project, then what was it? Or does Mr. Helmke have other special projects in mind such as the Shotgun Importability Study or the Multi-Rifle Sale Reporting Requirement? Perhaps the special project he had in mind was for ATF to find a way to completely abrogate our Second Amendment rights.
As to his specious argument that “no one’s responsible”, tell that to Rep. Darrell Issa and Senator Chuck Grassley who are looking long and hard at the higher-ups in the Department of Justice. Even if Andrew Traver had been confirmed as Director of ATF, I sincerely doubt he would have had the authority to start a project like Operation Fast and Furious on his own without clearance from his DOJ superiors. It involves wiretaps, international borders, and the drug cartels.
Helmke’s comments show just how desperate the Brady Campaign has become if this is the best they can do.
Ruger 77/357 – Me Want!
Ruger announced their newest rifle yesterday – a Model 77 in .357 Magnum. I have been interested in a .357 Magnum rifle for some time and had thought about one of the lever-actions by either Marlin or Rossi. I thought it would be good to be able to have a rifle and pistol in the same caliber. The only problem for me is that I’m just not up to speed on lever-actions and can’t remember ever having shot one. Now thanks to Ruger I won’t have to be. From their release:
June 22, 2011
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE: RGR) is proud to announce the Ruger® 77/357™, a lightweight, bolt-action rifle chambered in the venerable .357 Magnum and fed via a rotary magazine.The bolt-action 77/357 features a five-round rotary magazine and is offered in the Ruger All-Weather® configuration, which includes a durable, weather-resistant stainless steel barrel and receiver and a rugged, black composite stock. Although it is fitted with fully adjustable iron sights, the 77/357 also ships with patented Ruger scope rings, allowing a variety of sighting options for this lightweight (5-1/2 pounds), quick-handling rifle.
“The 77/357 is an effective tool for hunting medium-sized game – especially in heavy cover,” said Bruce Rozum, Chief Rifle Engineer at Ruger. “Bullet velocities of .357 Magnum ammunition increase significantly when fired out of the 77/357’s 18 1/2″ cold hammer-forged barrel. In testing, Hornady® 140 grain FTX® loads were clocked at over 1820 feet per second. Furthermore, the flush-fit, five-shot rotary magazine does not protrude at the rifle’s balance point and, unlike tube-fed rifles, the Ruger 77/357 can be readily loaded and unloaded,” he concluded.
From the spec sheet:
| Stock: | Black Synthetic | Finish: | Brushed Stainless | |
| Front Sight: | Gold Bead | Rear Sight: | Adjustable | |
| Barrel Length: | 18.50″ | Overall Length: | 38.50″ | |
| Material: | Stainless Steel | Length of Pull: | 13.50″ | |
| Capacity: | 5 | Weight: | 5.50 lbs. | |
| Twist: | 1:16″ RH | Grooves: | 8 | |
| Suggested Retail: | $793.00 |
I’m guessing that with a suggested retail of $793, the street price will be closer to the $600 range. That makes it competitive with the Marline 1894C and a bit more than the Rossi M92 carbine. The one advantage the lever-actions have is cartridge capacity.
Sucking Up To Father Pfleger
The new Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy comes to Chicago from New York by way of Newark, New Jersey. He was appointed to the job by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
One of his first acts was to speak at Saint Sabina’s Catholic Church. That is the parish so long associated with Fr. Michael Pfleger who is as radical and anti-gun as they come. In his speech to the parishioners, he blames lax Federal gun control laws, the NRA, gun manufacturers, Sarah Palin, and the Second Amendment for the uncontrolled gang violence in the City of Chicago.
I could say that the people of Chicago got the police superintendent that they deserve but that would be unfair to the good people of Chicago like David and Colleen Lawson and Otis McDonald.
H/T Tax Payer
UPDATE: NBC Chicago has noticed Police Superintendent McCarthy’s little foray into gun politics at St. Sabina’s. See their article here.
“[McCarthy] got it right on parts and got it wrong on others,” said Shawn Gowder, the Vice President of the Chicago Firearms Safety Association and the Sergeant of Arms for the African American Police League.
Gowder said McCarthy was right in remarking that government-sponsored racism began with slavery and Jim Crow, but said it was wrong to make the association with that and the availability of guns.
“The crime issue has nothing to do with racism. It has everthing to do with our ability to protect ourselves,” he said. “In Chicago, if we had our Second Amendment rights, there would be fewer criminals.”
Richard Pearson, the Executive Director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, said McCarthy is only attacking gun-rights advocates because “he has nothing else to offer.”
“He’s not talking about what the real problems are. He’s not facing the fact his gang unit failing, that the graduation rate in Chicago Public Schools is about 50 percent. He never mentions the economic problems,” said Pearson.
When You’ve Lost…
Back during the Vietnam War, CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite went to South Vietnam to see for himself the state of the war. The report was uniformly negative which caused President Johnson to famously say “when you’ve lost Walter Cronkite, you’ve lost America”.
Fast forward to 2011. There is no one quite the stature of Walter Cronkite anymore but Jon Stewart of The Daily Show will have to do. His report on Project Gunwalker, while comedy, skewers it more thoroughly than even Darrell Issa and Chuck Grassley have been able to do.
Hotel Internet
I am at the tail end of North Carolina staying in a Holiday Inn Express because I have business here tomorrow. Unlike what their ads may have you believe, staying here doesn’t make me a genius. Or at least not a computer genius.
I have been trying to log on to the Interwebs with my business computer. Either the company has put some new security software on the laptop or the Internet just sucks at the Holiday Inn Express in Murphy, NC.
Arrgh!
– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Dobyns: “Goes To The Highest Level Of Government – I Guarantee That”
ATF Special Agent (and whistle-blower) Jay Dobyns was interviewed by Fox’s Greta Van Sustern last night on Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunwalker). He was scathing in his condemnation of ATF management.
Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com
Opinion Journal On Project Gunwalker
Mary Anastasia O’Grady of the Wall Street Journal’s Opinion Journal discusses Project Gunwalker with James Freeman, editorial page assistant editor. She is their resident South American politics expert.
Presented Without Comment
Mike Vanderboegh posted the following BATFE news release that he was sent. I present it without comment which, to be honest, is damn hard to do!
From: Colbrun, Ginger L. [mailto:Ginger.L.Colbrun@usdoj.gov]
Sent: Monday, June 20, 2011 11:34 AM
To: Colbrun, Ginger L.
Subject: ATF HOSTS 1st GAY PRIDE OBSERVANCEFY-11-15 For Immediate Release
Contact: Public Affairs Division
June 20, 2011
(202)648-8500 www.atf.govATF HOSTS 1st GAY PRIDE OBSERVANCE
Congressman Barney Frank to Deliver Remarks
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Barney Frank and Acting Director Kenneth Melson of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) will host the 1st Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month program at the ATF headquarters, Wednesday, June 22, at 9 a.m.
WHO: Rep. Barney Frank, 4th Congressional District of Massachusetts
Acting Director Kenneth Melson
WHAT: 1st Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month program
WHEN: 9 a.m. (Media should arrive by 8:30 a.m. in the ATF Visitor’s Center)
WHERE: ATF headquarters, 99 New York Ave. NE, Washington, D.C.
NOTE: Please RSVP to ATF Public Affairs Division (202) 648-8500 prior to the event.Ginger Colbrun
Public Affairs Division
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Direct: 202.648.7938
Cell: 202.631.3543
ginger.colbrun@atf.gov
Project Gunwalker Too Big For CNN To Ignore Any Longer
With the exceptions of CBS’s Sharyl Attkission and Fox’s William LaJeunesse, the mainstream media – especially television news – have done their best to ignore Project Gunwalker or Operation Fast and Furious or whatever you want to call it. So imagine my delight at seeing CNN’s Jeanne Meserve looking properly dour calling the hearings last week before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee “fiery”. She also said that Operation Fast and Furious “has become quite explosive here in Washington.”
It is about time that the major news organizations recognize Project Gunwalker and the damage it has done in an effort to build support for more gun control. I don’t believe any reasonable person can make the claim that the real aim was to take down major Mexican drug cartels.