Month: September 2012

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Even ATF Can’t Get The Nomenclature Correct

September 7, 2012 by 3 Comments

I tend to scan the press releases from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives where they crow about their latest exploit as the “Violent Crime Bureau”. They usually involve felons in possession or drug dealers getting sent to prison with the occasional straw purchase thrown in for good measure. The press releases are officially from the US Attorney’s Office for the relevant local judicial district.

Today I happened to read one concerning a felon in possession. The headline for the release read “Austin Felon Sentenced for Possessing Assault Rifle.” I immediately wondered how some felon got a full-auto rifle which was an error on my part. Instead it was one of those ugly guns with the shoulder thing that goes up. In other words, a semi auto rifle which in this case probably was a Saiga or one of the many AK clones.

MINNEAPOLIS – Earlier today in federal court in St. Paul, a 31-year-old felon from Austin was sentenced for possessing an assault rifle. United States District Court Judge Richard H. Kyle sentenced Samuel James Johnson to 180 months in prison on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Johnson, who was indicted on April 17, 2012, pleaded guilty on June 6, 2012.

In his plea agreement, Johnson admitted that on November 4, 2010, he possessed a 7.62 x .39 caliber, semi-automatic assault-style rifle.

This press release came from the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. The US Attorney there is B. Todd Jones who is also the Acting Director of BATFE.

I guess one shouldn’t expect the press to get the difference between an “assault rifle” and a so-called “assault weapon” straight if even the agency tasked with the enforcement of firearm laws or its Acting Director doesn’t.

Josh Sugarmann must be doing fist pumps.

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Cory Trapp On AR Cleaning And Maintenance

September 6, 2012 by 1 Comment

The National Shooting Sports Foundation has released another of their Sportcasts. This one features Gunsite instructor and gunsmith Cory Trapp discussing how to clean and maintain your AR-15.

This video is as good, if not better, than many of the $19.99 or $29.99 commercial DVDs showing you the same information. I’d suggest bookmarking this one as you’ll want to watch parts of it over and over as a reference.

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Don’t You Know Who I Am?

September 6, 2012 by

Cathy Malloy, wife of Gov. Dan Malloy (D-CT) and First Lady of Connecticut, engaged in a rant against the media on Wednesday. She was speaking at a Democratic National Convention event sponsored by Emily’s List along with Ashley Judd and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) where her remarks were heard and recorded by a reporter for the Albany Times-Union.

Malloy’s rant was about the intrusiveness of the media into public officials’ private lives. To which I would normally agree, at least in part. However, she went on to add the following:

“In April I drove to work and I forgot to put my seat belt on, and I was pulled over by police. Of course, they had no idea who I was because I drive this really shitty car, and they didn’t believe that I was the governor’s wife in this shitty car. And I was driving myself, because of course, governor’s wives only get security when we’re with our husbands. We’re pretty second-class without them.”

Shitty car or brand new BMW/Audi/Mercedes, why should it matter to a cop stopping you for breaking a traffic law that you were the governor’s wife? It couldn’t have been been because you were trying to weasel your way out of a ticket by using your husband’s position, would it? Hmm.

To assist Connecticut cops if they happen to stop the First Lady of Connecticut again and fail to recognize Mrs. Malloy, her picture is below.

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The Kids Are Alright

September 6, 2012 by 1 Comment

With apologies to Who fans, there is another set of kids that are alright.

The Scribe is the student-run newspaper at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Their editorial board published an unsigned editorial yesterday saying that the university went too far with their new regulations concerning concealed carry on campus.

Recently, the University of Colorado Boulder and University of Colorado Colorado Springs amended their student housing contracts and issued new rules for athletic and cultural events, banning weapons in freshman dorms and at ticketed events.

Though meant to promote safety on campus, the new rules are likely at odds with state law, are inconsistent with the university’s overall policy allowing concealed weapons on campus and create a dangerous situation for students.

These students get it!

The editors call the policy of banning firearms in freshman dorms a policy in search of a problem. They note that most freshmen are under 21 and would not qualify for a concealed carry permit in Colorado. Moreover, the policy only impacts residents and not visitors who can still carry concealed under university policy and state law.

They think that the university rules governing freshman dorms and ticket events should be consistent with the rules governing concealed carry in all the other areas of campus.

They conclude:

It is similarly unjustified for the university to attempt to limit where on campus a student or faculty member may carry a concealed weapon. Trying to regulate firearms under housing contracts is equally fallacious.

For crowded events, the solution is simple: Only prohibit firearms if trained, armed officers are present and if electronic screeners make sure everyone entering is weaponless. Otherwise, the university has no grounds for stripping individuals of their constitutional rights.

While opponents of concealed carry may argue against the merits of allowing weapons in public areas, it is disingenuous to try and regulate the law’s applicability based on factors that the court did not consider.

These student journalists have a better grasp of reality than most of the so-called professionals in the mainstream media. With students like this, there is some hope for the media.

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Quote Of The Day

September 5, 2012 by

Frank J. Fleming writes for Townhall.Com and blogs at IMAO.us. His rather satirical and snarky column today is entitled “The First Term of Obama Has Been a Failure… of America.” That should give you a feel for his writings.

The first term of the Obama administration has been a complete failure — a complete failure of Americans to deserve the great president they elected.

President Obama has done everything for you. He spent billions to create you dozens of new green jobs. He’s given you amazing new health care laws. He even wore a flag pin a couple of times, though that had to disgust him. And his poor wife has done all she can to put up with the sight of your fat children waddling around everywhere. And yet you shout and shake your fat fists at him like _he’s_ done something wrong. It reminds me of the end of that one _Twilight Zone_ episode where everyone screams when they see the beautiful woman, because they all have pig faces, and she’s different from them. Well, Obama is the delicate beauty, and you’re all the ugly, pig-faced idiots whose sight should repulse and terrify him.

 Read the whole thing here.

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Not Bloody Likely

September 5, 2012 by 2 Comments

So the Democratic National Committee thinks “the government is the only thing we all belong to” according to this video below:

Sorry DNC but I don’t belong to the government.

Mitt said it right in a tweet earlier this evening – “the government belongs to us”. It is as another Republican, President Abraham Lincoln, said in the Gettysburg Address, we are a nation conceived in liberty and with a “government of the people, by the people, for the people”.