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A Big Thank You

August 6, 2012 by

I posted a bleg asking for advice on the purchase of a laptop back in July. One was to be for me and the other for Laura – the Virtual Stepdaughter – who needed a new laptop as she begins grad school. I want to say that I appreciate all the advice I was given.

I can now report that the laptops have been bought and no sales tax has been paid on either purchase! This is the back-to-school tax-free weekend in North Carolina.

I purchased a HP Pavilion G6-2010nr for Laura as she starts her M.A.Ed. in Elementary Education at Gardner-Webb University. She has been teaching first and second graders for the past three years and was named Grade Level Chair for first grade at her school. With her husband having finished his master’s in athletic training last year, it was her turn to start grad school.

The HP has 4GB of RAM, a 640GB harddrive, a 15.6 inch screen, built-in DVD burner, and weighs 5 1/2 pounds. The other thing that was essential was decent battery life. This laptop has almost a 6 hour estimated battery life. Her operating software is a 64-bit version of Windows 7.

As you can tell from the picture below, she is very pleased with it. She’s even keeping the protective plastic on it for now to keep it “nice”.

I was looking for something very lightweight with good battery life to use in traveling and at conferences. I wanted something similar to the MacBook Air. I looked at the specs on a lot of “ultrabooks”, checked some out at Sam’s Club, etc. The advice I kept getting from many people was that if I wanted something like a MacBook, why not just get a MacBook? The more I thought about it I realized they were right.

I bought the 13″ MacBook Air base model (4GB RAM and 128GB Solid State Drive) at the Apple Store in Greensboro yesterday. I got a university discount (that adjunct status is paying off!) plus they kicked in a $100 gift card for apps at the App Store. The store was packed and the line was almost out the door.

I haven’t had time to give it the full workout that it deserves. Nonetheless, I am exceedingly happy with it so far. I haven’t installed OS X Mountain Lion yet but do have the code to get it for free. I did install Office for Mac 2011 this evening along with a series of other software updates. I have much more set-up and customizing work to do but it is coming along.

A special thanks to PT, Bruce, and Sebastian for recommending that I go with the MacBook. It was good advice.

Again, a big thank you to everyone who gave advice.

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Zimmerman’s Attorney Mark O’Meara To Speak At 2012 GRPC

August 3, 2012 by 1 Comment

Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation sent out an email notice last night saying that George Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O’Meara, is scheduled to be one of the speakers at this year’s Gun Rights Policy Conference in Orlando.

From the email:

George Zimmerman’s criminal defense attorney Mark O’Mara in the Trayvon Martin case has just confirmed to speak at the Gun Rights Policy Conference!…

This year GRPC will be action-packed. With over 50 speakers hand-picked from the leadership of the Gun Rights Movement, the topics to be presented promise to have an impact that will help direct the path of our cause for years to come. Invited speakers this year include: myself, Joe Tartaro, Alan Gura, Otis McDonald, John Lott, Alan Korwin, Massad Ayoob, David Kopel, John Snyder, as well as staff from the Second Amendment Foundation, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, National Rifle Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation, KeepAndBearArms.com, and Gun Owners of America. A number of elected political leaders have been invited as well.

For more information on the Gun Rights Policy Conference or to register online, go to the SAF’s GRPC page.

I plan to be there and I’d urge you to make it if you can.

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Ruger Has Another Great Quarter

August 3, 2012 by

Ruger released their 2nd quarter 2012 financial results yesterday and held an earnings conference call with investment analysts and those interested this morning. Suffice to say, Ruger had another great quarter.

CEO Mike Fifer reported that Ruger’s earnings were up 63% for the quarter compared to the same quarter in 2011. Earnings growth was driven by a 50% growth in sales as well as some operational efficiencies. Breaking down sales, new products introduced in 2012 accounted for 38% of sales in the first half of 2012. Fifer attributed the following new products for driving this 38% increase:

  • Ruger American rifle
  • SR22 pistol
  • 10/22 Take-down rifle
  • 22/45 Lite pistol

In terms of dollars figures, Ruger reported the following for the 2nd quarter of 2012:

The Company reported net sales of $119.6 million and fully diluted earnings of 91¢ per share, compared with net sales of $79.6 million and fully diluted earnings of 56¢ per share in the second quarter of 2011.

For the six months ended June 30, 2012, net sales were $231.9 million and fully diluted earnings were $1.71 per share. For the corresponding period in 2011, net sales were $155.1 million and fully diluted earnings were 99¢ per share.

Ruger’s unit sales or the number of firearms sold to distributors rose by  55% for the quarter. If one uses the NSSF adjusted NICS checks as a proxy for the industry as a whole, it only rose 18% during the quarter.

During the conference call, one analyst asked if the growth in sales for the LC9 were as a result of cannibalizing the sales of the LCP. Fifer replied, “Not in the slightest.”

Fifer was asked about the $9 million in capital expenditures during the quarter. He replied:

Well, the important thing to know about the capital expenditures as I described is that we recognize them when they are placed in service. Which is — so it’s when I order it, not when I put a deposit on machinery, not when the machinery arrives, not even when I just get the tools up, but when I actually start producing parts. So the fact that I recognize $9 million in the quarter, it means I had a lot of equipment start producing parts in the quarter.

Finally, there was a question about the backlog and whether the orders submitted were firm orders or not. Fifer replied that Ruger had a policy of only accepting firm non-cancelable orders. Part of the rationale behind the suspension of taking new orders this Spring was the company’s desire to maintain this policy. Prior to lifting this suspension, their sales staff worked with distributors reminding them to only order what they could actually sell to gun shops.

Ruger had a great quarter and with all the talk of new gun control measure plus the elections I fully expect them to have a very good 3rd quarter.

Note: In the interest of full disclosure, I am a shareholder in Sturm, Ruger and Company and have been for a number of years.

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First Casualty Of Oversight Committee Report

August 2, 2012 by 3 Comments

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Final Report, Part 1, on Operation Fast and Furious appears to have caused its first “casualty”. The AP is reporting that William Hoover, one of the five BATFE managers named in the report, has left the agency.

Hoover was Deputy Director of BATFE from 2009 until 2011 when he was reassigned due to the fallout from Operation Fast and Furious. He had been appointed the Special Agent in Charge of the Washington (DC) Field Division by Acting Director B. Todd Jones last October but was relieved of his duties in January 2012 along with Mark Chait and William McMahon. At the time, it was speculated that Hoover was relieved of his duties in advance of the Inspector General’s report. That report still has not been either completed or released by the OIG.

Hoover had received bi-weekly briefings on Operation Fast and Furious but never shut it down despite reported misgivings.

This may be snarky but I’m sure Mr. Hoover is leaving with most of his pension intact.

UPDATE: Dave Workman, writing in the Seattle Gun Rights Examiner, has more on Hoover’s leaving. Writing about this on Tuesday, Dave said:

William Hoover, former ATF deputy director, retired this week according to reliable sources. Hoover was the official who ordered an “exit strategy” for the operation when he realized its scope, but according to the report, that strategy was never followed. “Hoover,” the report says, “was also instrumental in briefing Department of Justice personnel about the status of Fast and Furious, and had previously discussed gunwalking concerns in another case with Bill Newell.”

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“It’s Fun To Work At The BATF..Eeee!”

August 2, 2012 by 4 Comments

Tom Gresham of GunTalk posted a parody song that is his take on the Fast and Furious debacle. Set to the tune of the Village People’s YMCA, it just skewers that BATFE.

I was driving to work this morning when I first listened to it and I about had a wreck I was laughing so hard. The refrain is “It’s fun to work at the BATF…Eeee!”. The lyrics include such things as “you can watch cartels smuggle guns” and “your friends at DOJ will protect you; It will be OK”.

You can download it from iTunes or just listen to it here.

Don’t be drinking anything while listening or you may need to buy a new keyboard. Now you can’t say you haven’t been warned.

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Mike Vanderboegh On White House Links To Fast And Furious

August 2, 2012 by

As I said yesterday, it will take days to sift through all the stuff that was released on Tuesday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in the first part of their Final Report on Operation Fast and Furious.

Mike Vanderboegh has been doing some sifting of his own. He has written extensively in the past about Dr. Kevin O’Reilly who had been in the White House on the National Security Council. You may remember that he and Phoenix SAC Bill Newell had a back channel communication going on Operation Fast and Furious. While Newell has been questioned about this, the White House refused to let the Oversight Committee speak with Dr. O’Reilly citing executive privilege.

In his latest installment, Mike finds more evidence of the White House’s fingerprints on Operation Fast and Furious. Sit down with a cup of coffee and read it a couple of times. There is a lot there.

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NRA-ILA On Illinois Governor’s Proposed AWB

August 2, 2012 by

The NRA-ILA released a harsh and detailed response yesterday to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto of Senate Bill 681. You can read it below:

Gov. Quinn uses a previously NRA-Backed Ammunition Purchase Reform Bill as Vehicle for Gun Ban

Yesterday, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (D) vetoed the NRA-backed ammunition purchase reform bill, Senate Bill 681, after this common sense legislation had passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the Illinois legislature (previously reported on here). In a crass attempt to exploit the recent tragedy in Colorado and seek media attention, Quinn used his Amendatory Veto powers in a foolhardy attempt to impose more draconian gun control in Illinois. Quinn rewrote the entire bill as an amendment to the Illinois Criminal Code that includes an onerous ban on the manufacture, possession, delivery or sale of commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms (inaccurately referred to as “assault weapons”), .50 caliber rifles and cartridges and “high capacity” magazines in Illinois. Quinn’s amendment additionally tramples on the rights of Illinois citizens by creating a de facto statewide registration scheme for currently-owned firearms and magazines.

If this amendment is accepted by the Illinois General Assembly, law-abiding citizens in Illinois will be subjected to restrictions far beyond the scope of even the misguided Clinton Federal “Assault Weapons“ Ban that expired in 2004 and any other in existence in the country today. The repercussions of such a gun ban would be disastrous. As demonstrated by the failure of the assault weapon ban of 1994-2004 to produce the crime-reducing results proponents claimed it would, Quinn’s ban would do nothing to increase safety in Illinois and would only further restrict the rights of already law-abiding citizens throughout the state.

Using the well-worn anti-gun tactic of confusion, by conflating certain popular semi-automatic firearms with machine guns by using the term “assault weapon,” this legislation targets many of the most popular guns used for hunting and competition, as well as many models and magazines (those that hold more than ten rounds) used for self-defense. Banned items would include many familiar and popular firearms, such as:

  • Turkey hunting shotguns with pistol grips, like the Benelli Super Black Eagle II;
  • Plinking and target rifles with thumbhole stocks, as often seen on customized Ruger 10/22s;
  • High-power target rifles — even including the 1994-2004 versions of rifles like the M1A and AR-15 that were made to comply with the now-expired federal ban — because all of those rifles had handguards that “encircle” the barrel;
  • Any detachable-magazine semi-automatic rifle with even a partial handguard, potentially including common hunting rifles like the popular Remington 740/7400 series, Browning BAR, and many more like them.


This gun ban would even apply to the individual parts themselves (stocks, pistol grips, handguards, folding or telescoping stocks, etc). Possession, manufacture, delivery or sale of any of these items would be a felony.

Worse yet, this amended bill would impose a massive statewide gun registration scheme. Anyone who already possesses one of the banned guns or parts would have to provide proof of ownership and register each one with the State Police within ninety days of the effective date. This registration requirement spans from the firearm itself to individual parts and magazines that fall under the ban.

Governor Quinn and his band of anti-gun Chicago politicians would like to see their vicious attack on the Second Amendment play out across Illinois, even as Chicago—with the state’s most restrictive gun laws—is on track to tally more than 500 murders this year.

The repercussions of such a gun ban would actually be just the opposite of what proponents claim and the results would be disastrous. Firearms manufacturing is estimated to be a $250 million dollar industry in Illinois. Not only would this gun ban be devastating to law-abiding citizens in Illinois, it also would wreak havoc on an entire industry, killing jobs and driving a healthy contributor to the Illinois economy out of state. This legislation in no way promotes the safety or well-being of Illinois citizens, but is merely another attempt by gun-hating Chicago politicians to use misinformation to push draconian gun bans that will only affect gun owners, sportsmen and law-abiding citizens concerned about self-defense.

Your Action Is Needed! The Illinois General Assembly will reconvene on August 17th for their special session, and could vote on the Governor’s amendment to Senate Bill 681. Contact your state legislators TODAY and demand they oppose the Governor’s gun ban!

Contact information for all state legislators can be found by clicking here.

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A Tale Of Two Chicago Newspapers

August 2, 2012 by 1 Comment

One Chicago newspaper had a column today that espoused a voice of reason with regard to semi-automatic firearms. Its competitor calls them “extreme weapons of slaughter.”

Steve Chapmen, writing in his Chicago Tribune column, called Gov. Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto “a pointless gesture.”

If allowing these guns stimulated more killing, the national murder rate wouldn’t have declined by 13 percent after the ban expired. But that’s what happened.

Prohibiting “assault weapons” is a pointless gesture. Those who propose a ban are only proving they don’t understand basic facts about guns and violence or don’t care.

The Chicago Sun-Times, by contrast, is happy that Gov. Quinn is exploiting the shootings in Aurora. When Illinois State Sen. David Luechtefeld (R-Okawville) accused Quinn of exploiting the tragedy, the Sun-Times said, “Damn right he is — and good for him.”

Showing that they really don’t understand the bill and just how extreme the restrictions that would be imposed if the Illinois General Assembly concurs with Quinn’s amendatory veto, they say the veto won’t limit handguns. Then they make the nonsensical suggestion to single out only AR-15s.

Quinn didn’t dilute his moral argument by calling for any other form of gun control, such as new limits on handguns.

But let’s go the governor one better. How about we agree to ban only assault weapons, putting off for another day the debate over high-round magazines?

Better yet, let’s ban only certain assault weapons, such as the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle used in the Colorado theater rampage. The AR-15 can rattle off 30 rounds as fast as you can pull the trigger.

Let’s bang the drum for a ban on just these extreme weapons of slaughter to make the point, if nothing else, that even the most conservative gun control proposal will always be shot down by one extremist organization, the National Rifle Association.

The problem with their argument is that as the veto reads firearms such as the Glock pistol would end up being banned due to the existence of the Glock 18. Read the amendatory veto here and see if you don’t agree. See Sec. 24-1.9 (a)(1)(C)(vi).

The Sun-Times editorial tries to make the NRA the whipping boy in this matter and accuses them of being the extremists for sticking up for the Second Amendment and constitutional rights. What if a bill was passed that said newspapers were restricted to letter presses such as Ben Franklin used that could only print a page at a time. Those high capacity web presses would be forbidden as they were never imagined by the Founding Fathers when they passed the First Amendment. This is analogous to their arguments and just as ridiculous.

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Maryland Asks 4th Circuit For Stay In Woollard (Updated)

August 1, 2012 by 5 Comments

Late on Friday, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office filed a motion for a stay with the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. They are seeking a stay of District Court Judge Benson Legg’s order in the Woollard case that the Maryland State Police must issue carry permits without requiring a “good and substantial reason.”

They are seeking to have the order stayed until the 4th Circuit rules on its appeal of the Woollard decision.

I have uploaded Maryland’s motion to Scribd and it can be found here.

UPDATE: Dave Hardy at Of Arms and the Law is reporting that the 4th Circuit granted Maryland its stay. However, they then expedited the hearings on the appeal.

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Tam On Quislings

August 1, 2012 by

Tam nails it. Tactical Firearms of Katy, TX and its owner Jeremy Alcede went on talk radio in support of a ban on online ammunition sales.

Dear Jeremy Alcede of Tactical Firearms, Katy, TX: I hope you freeze in the dark, you gutless quisling punk.


When your children are crying “Daddy, why are we on food stamps?” you can tell them “It’s because your Daddy was a selfish, pusillanimous sellout who put his personal bottom line ahead of the Bill of Rights, kids, and so nobody would buy anything from his store ever again.”

Go to Tam’s for all the links.