A couple of weeks ago, the North Carolina General Assembly voted unanimously to overturn Durham County’s gun registration requirement. It was the only county in the state to have this requirement and it had been in place long before state preemption.
I missed it when it came out. Fortunately, Mississippi Rebel did not.
You can read his post on the overturning of this Jim Crow-era law here.
If you don’t think the .380 Auto aka 9mm Browning isn’t a powerful round, show me another pistol cartridge that was used to start a world war. For it was with a FN Model 1910 chambered in .380 Auto (or 9mm Browning to be more precise) that Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg 100 years ago today in Sarajevo.
Princip did it in the name of Yugoslav nationalism. He was a Bosnian Serb. As a result of the assassination, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia a month to the day after the Archduke was assassinated. A few days later Germany which had declared support for Austria then declared war on Russia and the rush to war spiraled out of control. Barbara Tuchman describes this spiraling out of control in her book The Guns of August
Princip’s FN Model 1910 is now a part of the permanent display at the Museum of Military History in Vienna, Austria. How it got there is a story unto itself.
So while the cartridge debate rages on as to which cartridge has enough power, none save the .380 Auto can say they helped start a war, let alone the War to End All Wars.
The first case brought after the win in McDonald v. Chicago extended the Second Amendment to the states was in North Carolina. Bateman v. Perdue challenged the state’s law that restricted possession of firearms and ammunition outside the home during a state of emergency. Bateman was brought by the Second Amendment Foundation (among others) and was ultimately a win. Citizens of North Carolina are now allowed to protect themselves during states of emergency.
The Second Amendment Foundation has now returned to North Carolina to challenge the state’s restriction of Concealed Handgun Permits to US citizens. Felicity Todd Veasey is an Australian citizen and legal permanent resident living in Butner who is married to a US citizen. Mrs. Veasey has lived in North Carolina for the last 10 years and wishes to obtain a Concealed Handgun Permit. Named as the defendant in the case is Sheriff Brindell Wilkins, Jr. in his official capacity as sheriff of Granville County. North Carolina Concealed Handgun Permits are issued by the sheriffs of the respective counties.
This case follows on the heels of winning cases challenging state restrictions of firearm permits and concealed carry permits to only citizens. Alienage is a suspect class under Constitutional precedent and the state must show a compelling governmental interest in restrictions concerning citizenship. The Second Amendment Foundation has won similar cases in Nebraska, New Mexico, Massachusetts, and elsewhere while the ACLU has brought similar winning cases in South Dakota and Kentucky.
Veasey v. Wilkins seeks a preliminary and permanent injunction against this provision as well as a declaratory judgment stating that it is unconstitutional. The case is being brought on the grounds that the provision violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and that it violates Mrs. Veasey’s rights to keep and bear arms under the 2nd and 14th Amendments. The lead attorney in the case is David Sigale of Illinois who has served as lead attorney in a number of similar cases.
You can read the Second Amendment Foundation’s release on the case here. As Alan Gottlieb of SAF notes in the release, “we seem (to)keep finding such laws on the books and we have to challenge them.”
The full complaint is located here.
UPDATE: As Sean’s comments indicate, the North Carolina General Assembly was urged to change the citizenship requirement but blew it off. Now it is going to cost the state time, effort, and money to correct their error. If they were smart, they’d fold immediately, pay SAF a reasonable amount for legal fees, and change the law.
Thom Tillis, Speaker of the North Carolina House and GOP nominee for Senate, ought to extend a personal invitation to Gabby Giffords and her space cowboy husband to come visit North Carolina to push their gun control agenda. The invitation would expire at midnight on Monday, November 3rd.
So why in the world should a NRA A-rated Republican want a couple of out-of-state gun banners trying to spread their gospel in the Tar Heel State?
Because of who doesn’t want them here: Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC).
It seems that Hagan and some other Democrats in pro-gun states don’t want the voters thinking about gun rights.
When the gun control advocacy group led by the former congresswoman from Arizona threw its support behind several endangered Senate Democrats in Western and Southern states, the candidates carefully moved to distance themselves from the affable Ms. Giffords and boasted about their strident defense of Second Amendment rights.
The message was clear: Thanks, but no thanks.
The candidates — Sen. Mark Udall in Colorado, Sen. Mary L. Landrieu in Louisiana, Sen. Kay R. Hagan in North Carolina and Rep. Bruce L. Braley, vying for Iowa’s open Senate seat — have tried to avoid the gun debate in key races that will determine whether their party keeps its majority in the U.S. Senate.
I’m guessing that Sen. Hagan doesn’t want voters reminded that she voted for the gun controls contained in Manchin-Toomey which had the support of Giffords and her Americans for Responsible Solutions.
The Hagan-Tillis race is one of the seven Senate races that Americans for Responsible Solutions intends to be involved with according to their website. Among the mega-donors to the Giffords-Kelly group is none other than former Mayor Michael Bloomberg who made a donation of $250,000 to the group in 2013.
If the race gets close towards the end, I wonder if Bloomberg will kick in the big bucks like he has for Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) who faces a run-off in the Mississippi GOP primary today with St. Sen. Chris McDaniel.
H/T Sebastian
The list of ridiculous bills that the New Jersey Legislature has passed and that Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) needs to veto has grown again. In addition to the magazine ban bill this is sitting on his desk, there is now a bill that totally bans ivory or “ivory products”. This ban extends to 10,000 year old ivory from mammoth tusks.
Ivory products are more than carved elephant tusks. They would include things like the keys on older Steinway concert pianos, 150-year old whale scrimshaw, slabs and handles from knives, old billiard balls, and the grips on George Patton’s revolvers. Banning the transfer of ivory or ivory products at the state level does nothing to stop elephant poaching in Africa.
Knife Rights has issued a strongly worded alert on this bill. Reading through the bill myself, I agree that it is all encompassing and permits no real exceptions. It is a bill that ought to be vetoed.
In a move
that caught just about
everyone by surprise, last
week the New Jersey
legislature quietly passed
S.2012/A.3128,
a draconian total ivory ban
bill with no exemptions for
existing legal ivory and
that even bans
10,000-year-old mammoth
ivory. This
poorly drafted bill even
opens the door to outright
confiscation of
ivory-handled knives and
arrest of knife owners!
Knife
Rights unequivocally
supports legitimate
efforts to stop the
illegal slaughter of
elephants in Africa
,
but
this
bill will not save a
single elephant
.
Unfortunately,
instead of going after
poachers, smugglers
and traders of illicit
ivory, the New Jersey
legislature has
decided to launch an
all-out attack on
innocent New Jerseyans
by passing an absurd
TOTAL Ivory Ban
that
will not save a single
living elephant
.
Knife
Rights has asked Gov.
Christie to veto this
irrational and very
destructive bill.
If
you are a New Jersey
resident or do business
in New Jersey, WRITE or
CALL the Governor TODAY
and ask him to VETO
S.2012/A.3128.
The NJ Ivory Ban Bill
outlaws ALL ivory from ANY
ANIMAL (elephant, hippo,
mammoth, narwhal, walrus,
whale, etc.). It makes it
illegal to to import, sell,
offer for sale, purchase,
barter or possess with
intent to sell (a
intentionally vague term of
law subject to abusive
interpretation that could
lead to knife confiscations
and arrests) any
ivory or ivory product with no
exceptions for antique or
heretofore legal ivory
imported decades ago prior to
the existing 24-year-old U.S.
ban on ivory imports.This ban would
irreparably harm owners of
ivory-handled and fossil
ivory-handled knives,
antiques, musical instruments
and any items containing ivory
legally imported into this
country decades ago by
stripping their value – a
taking of millions of dollars
from law-abiding New
Jerseyans. The ban would
criminalize legitimate
business owners and cause
immediate ruinous financial
loss for them. It will
cost the state millions of
dollars in tax revenue and
not
save a single living
elephant!This
bill will not save a
single elephant
because study after study
have shown no connection
between the legal ivory
market in decades-old
ivory in the U.S. and
poaching in Africa. International
and U.S. studies
document that virtually
all the ivory poached in
Africa goes to China
where it is valued at 6
times the price of
decades-old legal ivory
in the U.S.
Moreover, it is already a
federal crime to import
ivory into the U.S. and a
crime to possess or sell
illegally imported ivory.
This outrageous
and draconian bill also
represents an unconstitutional
“taking” of
protected private property,
violating both the Fifth
Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution and Article 1, #1
and #20 of the N.J.
Constitution.
While lawsuits
challenging this law, if
signed, wend their way though
the courts, untold hundreds or
thousands of ivory owners will
be arrested and prosecuted
under this absurd law.NOTHING IN THIS
ABSURD BILL WILL SAVE A
SINGLE ELEPHANT!
This is “feel
good – do bad”
legislation at its
worst!
New
Jersey residents and all
who do business in New
Jersey should WRITE or
CALL the Governor TODAY
and ask him to VETO S.2012/A.3128.
Call the Governor at: 609-292-6000When you call or
write, all you need to do is
ask the Governor to VETO
S.2012/A.3128, the ivory Ban
Bill. If you’d like to write
more, click
here for Knife Rights’ NJ
Ivory Ban Model Letter to
Gov.
Christie.
A Tweet by Iowahawk included a link to this 2009 Tweet from Sonasoft. They are the company whose software is used by the Internal Revenue Service to back up emails on the IRS network.
by
If the IRS uses Sonasoft products to backup their servers why wouldn’t you choose them to protect your severs? http://www.sonasoft.com
— Sonasoft.com (@Sonasoft) October 9, 2009
Sonasoft’s slogan is “email archiving done right”. I guess by right they mean according to the transparency standards of the Obama Administration. Either that or the software did properly back up Lois Lerner and her cohorts’ emails and someone is lying about not being able to locate them.
If I were the CEO of Sonasoft, I’d be pushing the last explanation.
World War II era military planes are not exactly plentiful anymore. Some are exceedingly rate. For example, while there are a handful of B-29s in museums, Fifi is the only airworthy B-29 still in existence.
Out of 17,000 T-6 Texan trainers built, there are an estimated 350 still in airworthy condition with a handful undergoing restoration. The going price for one ranges from the low $100,00s to over $300,000.
Given that, it is hard to understand what the Defense Logistics Agency did to one located in Japan. It had been lent to the Japanese Self Defense Forces for training and then had been a display piece until 1998.
When the JSDF returned the T-6 Texan to US control, this is what the Defense Logistics Agency did to the plane.
The DLA is now advertising that the scrap metal is now available for sale. They seem rather proud of their actions as they published an article detailing the destruction in their news center.
A T-6 Texan had an empty weight of about 4,100 lbs. Let’s assume that they got a very generous 50 cents per pound. That would come to around $2,050. Conversely, let’s assume that they sold the plane to a collector for restoration. Doesn’t it seem reasonable that some collector would pay many times that to get a decent specimen with what looks to be a good body and airframe?
Of course it does.
Talladega, Alabama is famous for its Talladega Superspeedway. This NASCAR speedway has the steepest banks and the highest speeds of any stock car racetrack in America. Soon, Talladega will be known for something else: the CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park.
 |
| Photo courtesy of the CMP. |
Phase I of the construction of this shooting facility is now 95% done. According to a post by the CMP, they have moved almost all of the 600,000 yards of dirt needed to prepare the construction site. Phase II is also underway with some building foundations being poured and the entrance drive roadbed prepared.
 |
| Photo courtesy of the CMP |
The facility is scheduled to open in the Spring of 2015. It will feature a 200/300/600 yard rifle range, a 100 yard rifle range, two pistol ranges, a number of action pistol bays, a 15 station sporting clays range, and a trap range. The CMP intends for the Marksmanship Park to be the site of a number of their clinics, classes, and matches as well as other shooting events. It will be open to the public. The layout of the completed facility is shown below.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program is selling granite pavers ranging in price from $40 for juniors to $250 for a double size paver to help defray the cost of the facility. Donations for pavers are tax deductible. You can find more info on those here.
I can see some long weekends in Alabama in my future. I really do need to rejoin a CMP affiliated club so as to be eligible to purchase another Garand or one of the other rifles that they have available.
Florida Carry has been doing yeoman’s work down in the State of Florida on the issue of carry – both open and concealed. They are currently supporting a case, Norman v. State, which is an appeal from a county court’s ruling that Dale Norman, a legal and licensed concealed carry permit holder, violated that Florida’s open carry ban when his pistol showed under his concealment garment. The appeal has been accepted by the Florida 4th Circuit Court of Appeals as a constitutional challenge.
However, it seems that certain anti-gun elements within the Florida Attorney General’s Office are trying to scuttle that challenge from being heard. Florida Carry notes that Florida AG Pam Bondi has generally been very pro-gun and is not behind this move. They also note that certain local State Attorneys (Angela Corey comes to mind) are vigorously prosecuting open carry cases.
From their release sent out yesterday:
Assistant
Attorney
Generals
and
Local
State
Prosecutors
are out
of
control
in
fighting
against
the
Second
Amendment.
Once
again
the
anti-gun
elements
in
the
Florida
Attorney
General’s
office
are
attempting
to scuttle the
appeal
in
the
case
of
Norman
v.
State.
The
Norman
case
is
the
only
viable
case
in
the
country
arguing
for
recognition
of
the
constitutional
right
to
open carry.Since
the
appeal
was
first
brought,
the
West
Palm
Beach
Office
of
the
Attorney
General
has
repeatedly
attempted
to
derail
the
case
based
on
procedural
arguments
that
the
lower
court
did
not
properly
certify
its
questions
of
great
public
importance.
The
AG’s
office
even
appealed
the
case
to
the
Florida
Supreme
Court
in
an
attempt
to
keep
the
Fourth
District
Court
of
Appeals
from
hearing
the
case.
They
want
the
case
heard
by a
Circuit
Court
where
a
recognition
of
the
right
to
carry
will
not
have
state-wide
effect
and
will
be
decided
by
only
one
local judge.A
request
was
sent
to
the
Assistant
Attorney
General
in
Palm
Beach
asking
them
to
consent
to
the
lower
Court
amending
its
judgement
to
include
the
certified
question
in
the
order
of
Judgement
and
Sentence
to
correct
the
AG’s
claimed
procedural
defect
that
may exist.Their
response:
We
(the
Attorney
General’s
Office)
will
take
“no
position”…If
the
AG’s
office
wanted
to
take
a
pro-Second
Amendment
position
and
was
truly
trying
to
correct
an
alleged
procedural
error
by
the
lower
court
it,
would
have
consented.
Instead,
they
punted.To
quote
George
Carlin,
“It’s
all
BS,
and
it’s
bad
for you.”No
credible
organization
could
question
the
pro-gun
record
of
Florida
Attorney
General
Pamela
Bondi
who
has
signed
on
to
support
many
important
federal
amicus
briefs
to
the
U.S.
Supreme
Court
that
were
filed
by
other
state’s
AGs,
but
her
own
office
is
apparently
in
need
some
deep
house cleaning.The
ruling
and
intent
of
the
lower
court
is
clear,
that
this
case
be
reviewed
by
a
panel
of
appellate
court
judges
as
a
matter
of
great
public
importance
that
impacts
thousands
of
law
enforcement
officers
and
millions
of
gun owners.The
Attorney
General
needs
to
get
her
anti-gun
and
anti-self-defense
underlings
in
line
if
she
wants
the
support
of
gun
owners
in
the
coming
election.Florida
concealed
carry
licensees
and
others
who
lawfully
possess
firearms
are
being
arrested
and
prosecuted
at
an
alarming
rate.
The
problem
is
not
only
with
the
Attorney
General’s
office.In
two
cases
that
we
are
involved
with,
State
Attorney
Angela
Corey’s
office
is
wrongfully
prosecuting
lawful
gun
owners.In
the
first
case,
a
man
was
arrested
on
his
own
front
porch
for
having
a
handgun
in a
closed
bag…
While
finishing
moving.
Corey’s
office
claims
that
it
was
no
longer
his
home,
since
he
was
moving,
and
is
prosecuting
him
for
a
felony.In
the
second,
a
CWFL
licensee
has
been
sentenced
to
60
days
in
jail
for
an
open
carry
ban
violation
after
his
shirt
rode
up
over
his
holster
in a
store
exposing
his firearm.It
is
time
to
contact
Attorney
General
Bondi’s
office
and
politely
let
her
know
we
trust
and
support
her,
but
she
needs
to
show
her
commitment
to
the
Second
Amendment
by
cleaning
up
the
anti-gun
elements
in
her
office,
including
the
West
Palm office.For
Angela
Corey’s
part.
It’s
time
for
her
to
find
a
new
job.
The Firearms History, Technology & Development Blog has been running a series on the various types of magazines ranging from tubular magazines to pan magazines. Most of us are familiar with the box magazine but few of us would know that a Krag-Jorgensen rifle’s magazine is termed a “capsule magazine.”
The whole series is well worth a read especially if you are interested in the development of firearms technology over time.