stupidity

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800% More Bullet!

April 21, 2014 by 4 Comments

I first saw this on Tumblr and thought it was some sort of parody of Bloomberg’s Everytown group. It turns out it wasn’t.

The post above was on our good friends Facebook page. It just goes to prove that $50 million can’t buy you real gun sense.

UPDATE: Erika Soto Lamb who is the Communications Directors of Everytown for Gun Safety (sic) is asserting that this is a parody put up by “cybersquatters”.  Going through the photos on that page, she may be correct. That said, her organization(s) have put out stupid ads about guns in the past.

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Legal Comment Of The Day

March 18, 2014 by 11 Comments

If anyone wonders about the level of firearms ignorance contained within the Obama Administration, read this paragraph filed as part of the legal proceeding against Ares Armor. It is from the US Attorney for the Southern District of California Laura Duffy and AUSA Daniel Butcher.

The United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) is conducting a lawful criminal investigation of the illegal manufacture, distribution, sale, and possession of AK-15 variant lower receivers, which are considered firearms under the Firearms Control Act, 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3).

Now I knew the AK-12 had been developed as the latest iteration of the AK-47 but hadn’t heard anything about a AK-15. I wonder if even the Russians know about the AK-15. If not, maybe the US Attorney’s Office in San Diego could tell them about it.

David Codrea has much more about the BATFE battle with Ares Armor here and here. Bob Owens at Bearing Arms has a whole series of videos taken of the raid that took place on Friday despite the existence of a restraining order against the BATFE.

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Blissful Ignorance?

March 10, 2014 by 4 Comments

Sometimes you read letters to the editors that just make you shake your head. This is especially true when they are published in papers with a history of pushing for more and more (useless) gun control.

A case in point is this letter to the editor published Thursday in the Hartford Courant. I have left off the author’s name and address out of mercy.

I like guns. I like the smell, the heft, and the look of them; but I don’t own one or want to own one.

A properly stored gun is useless for defending my home. I know enough responsible gun owners to understand that it would take way too long to unlock a gun safe and load a gun, especially in the dark.

If you really believe that the threat of an armed homeowner would scare away an intruder, try to make some mechanism that would imitate the sound of a pump-action shotgun. That would be just as effective, and a lot safer.

While I might agree that a firearm stored in a gun safe in the garage or basement would take too much time to grab in an emergency, there are such things as bedside pistol safes which are both secure and easy to open. That is presupposing break-ins or home invasions only come when we are tucked away in our beds dreaming of sugar plum fairies.

As residents of my area learned this past week, home invasions can come at 11am in nice quiet, semi-rural neighborhoods. A pistol in a holster on your belt is properly stored and is not useless for defending your home. Moreover, you are not searching for your firearm at the last moment.

I might also add that those of us without children or grandchildren in the house do have more options insofar as keeping a firearm nearby.

The writer’s suggestion of a pump-action noise maker is a case of someone believing everything that comes out of Hollywood. You might do just as well with a recording of a German Shepherd barking loudly and scratching at the door that is turned on by an infrared switch. That is, of course, until the intruder figures it out and kicks in your door.

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Are There Really People This Stupid?

March 4, 2014 by 12 Comments

There are times you want to just bang your head against the wall just because of the stupidity of the speaker. This is one of those times.  Don’t do it. Just consider the source.

The video below features Jackie Kuhls explaining assault weapons (sic). Ms. Kuhls, at the time of this video, was the executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence (sic). I know this video has made the rounds but it is instructional in the “know your enemy” sense.

I came across this video thanks to today’s Failure to Fire cartoon which did an excellent job of fisking it in a mere four panels. It is one of my daily reads. Definitely take a look at today’s strip.

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I Think Someone Needs A Rabies Shot

December 18, 2013 by 3 Comments

I make no secret of my disdain and disgust for the supporters of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) whom I call PETAfiles. Now they have gone so far beyond the pale that I am left wondering if they are suffering from rabies given their rabid attack on a Pennsylvania teen who was bitten by a bear while deer hunting.

Camille Bomboy of Lock Haven, PA was attacked by a female bear while deer hunting near her family’s farm. The attack almost caused Bomboy to lose an ear. She had inadvertently gotten between a mother bear and her cubs which may have precipitated the attack. After a brief stay in the hospital, Bomboy is home with her family.

Following the attack, she received a letter from Alicia Woempner who serves as the Special Projects Division Manager for PETA. After saying she wished Bomboy a speedy recovery, Woempner goes on to say:

This seems to be a good opportunity to put yourself in the place of the individuals you and the rest of your hunting party were trying to kill. As terrifying as it must have been to be attacked by a bear, please consider the frightening and painful experiences that hunters set out to impose upon animals. There used to be a bumper sticker that read, “I support the right to arm bears!” That was a joke, but in all seriousness, it would be a blessing if you were to abandon hunting and decide to live and let live.

You have to wonder in what sort of warped universe these zealots live.

To add insult to injury, PETA sent their Senior VP Lisa Lange to Fox News to discuss it. Lange said to Gretchen Carlson that this incident might cause Bomboy to sympathize with the animals she is hunting.

Gretchen Carlson replied, “When a teenage girl is potentially almost killed … you send a letter asking her to look at it from the perspective of the bear?!”


Lange didn’t back down, saying, “Absolutely.”

The video of the interview can be seen here.

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“Carrying A Loaded Firearm Is The Gateway Crime To Committing A Murder”

December 12, 2013 by 16 Comments



Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said in an interview with Dean Reynolds of CBS News that “carrying a loaded firearm is the gateway crime to committing a murder.” He said this during the course of the interview discussing how the Chicago police seize 130 “illegal” guns a week.

I don’t know about you but I have a hard time wrapping my head around McCarthy’s statement. Much of what McCarthy considers “illegal” is perfectly legal in the rest of the country. That would include such things as concealed carry, open carry, and firearms with standard capacity magazines. I see millions of Americans legally carrying a loaded firearm daily and murder does not begin to cross their minds even once.

While the state of Illinois has passed their shall-issue concealed carry law, it still is in the process of being implemented and no Illinois CCWs have been issued yet.

McCarthy points to the seizure of firearms as being responsible for the reduction in murders in Chicago this year. However, correlation is not causation especially when the police have concurrently stepped up their presence in high crime areas and put more resources into street-level intelligence gathering. If perhaps McCarthy put as much emphasis into suppressing violent street gangs as into suppressing firearms, Chicago might really see a dramatic decline in its murder rate. That would unfortunately deprive many Chicago politicians of a constituency so I doubt we’ll be seeing that.

McCarthy is pushing for a New York City-style law which provides a three year mandatory sentence for the illegal possession of a firearm. His efforts to get such a law passed in Illinois have stalled in the General Assembly.

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So Freaked Out By Open Carry That He Gets Arrested

September 18, 2013 by 10 Comments

I’m neither a proponent nor opponent of open carry. I don’t tend to do it because I want to keep the bad guys guessing. That said, if you want to open carry that is your option. If you do, I promise I won’t be like Robert Gursky of Glastonbury, Connecticut.

According to this story in the Hartford Courant, Mr. Gursky was so freaked out by a gentleman legally open carrying at his local bank that he slid the teller a note that said “gun”. The teller did what he or she was trained to do – they hit the silent bank robbery alarm.

Mr. Gursky was arrested for breach of peace and has to appear in court next week. And the man open carrying? He was interviewed by the cops who determined that he possessed his firearm legally and that was that.

There is something to be said for poetic justice.

H/T BearingArms.com

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Time To Turn The Screws Down On Republicans In NC

July 23, 2013 by

It is time for the Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly to either put up or shut up. They talk a good game when they want gun owners votes but when given a chance to actually send a decent gun bill to the governor, they waffle and drag their feet.

HB 937 which would amend a number of gun laws in North Carolina has passed both the House and the Senate in different forms. When given a choice on passing the stronger of the two versions, the House Republicans waffled and sent it to a conference committee. Now the conference committee which is composed entirely of Republicans is dragging its feet. The General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn this coming Friday.

We went through this garbage in the last session where one house passed restaurant carry and then it was never acted upon by the other house. It is time for this nonsense to stop. The conference committee needs to report out a bill without garbage attached to it and to do it now.

As Grass Roots North Carolina notes in their alert below, Republicans will be held accountable if they fail to pass this bill. Instead of considering a bill to honor All-American Cities, why not do something that is substantive and not symbolic?

The clock to adjournment is ticking…IT IS TIME TO BRING THE HEAT!

While the gun rights of North Carolinians hang in the balance, Republican leadership can’t stop playing political games. They are being manipulated by the competing misguided interests of the NC Sheriffs’ Association (NCSA) and NRA.

The political angst has reached the level that Rep. Jacqueline Schaffer has begun emailing accusations that GRNC is spreading “inaccurate information”. GRNC President Paul Valone quickly responded:

“As I just told your legislative assistant, Sharon, I would love to know what is “inaccurate” about our reporting. My understanding was that to close what you yourself have called the “arming felons loophole,” sans repeal of all or part of the purchase permit statute, you suggested requiring NICS checks if purchase permits were older than 30 days. As we have said all along (and I have numerous positions issued to Republicans to this effect), punishing gun owners for the malfeasance of the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association is unacceptable to us. So please, tell me what is “inaccurate,” before I am forced to report to 87,000 gun owners that it is actually you who is disseminating false information.“

It is time to stop the blame game and pandering to NCSA and NRA. These organizations didn’t elect the Assembly. You did. Have they forgotten who they represent?

Apparently they need another reminder. GRNC has set-up a “Pass HB 937” petition at http://grnc.org/pass-h937 that will help the politicians focus on the issue. Sign it, and pass along the link to your friends.

The Assembly is set to adjourn this Friday. We only have a few more days to instill sense in both the Assembly and Governor McCrory and get this bill passed.

We have fought for years for this progress. Failure IS NOT AN OPTION!

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

You need to do three things:

  1. Call the three Republican leaders, Gov. McCrory, Speaker Tillis, President Pro Tempore Berger;

  2. Sign the petition and forward it to others; and

  3. Send the copy-and-paste message to all Republicans in the NC House and Senate

MAKE SURE TO BOTH CALL AND EMAIL Sen. Berger, Speaker Tillis and Gov. McCrory. This is our last chance to make an impression. Let’s make it GOOD!

CONTACT INFORMATION

Speaker Thom Tillis, 919-733-3451, Email: Thom.Tillis@ncleg.net

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, 919-733-5708, Email: Phil.Berger@ncleg.net

Gov. Pat McCrory, 919-814-2000, Email using BOTH this address governor.office@nc.gov AND the webpage at http://www.governor.state.nc.us/contact/email-pat

Use the following cut-and-paste email list to contact NC House Republicans:

Dean.Arp@ncleg.net; Marilyn.Avila@ncleg.net; John.Bell@ncleg.net; Hugh.Blackwell@ncleg.net; Jamie.Boles@ncleg.net; Robert.Brawley@ncleg.net; Brian.Brown@ncleg.net; Rayne.Brown@ncleg.net; Rob.Bryan@ncleg.net; Dana.Bumgardner@ncleg.net; Justin.Burr@ncleg.net; Rick.Catlin@ncleg.net; George.Cleveland@ncleg.net; Jeff.Collins@ncleg.net; Debra.Conrad@ncleg.net; Leo.Daughtry@ncleg.net; Ted.Davis@ncleg.net; Jimmy.Dixon@ncleg.net; Josh.Dobson@ncleg.net; Jerry.Dockham@ncleg.net; Nelson.Dollar@ncleg.net; Jeffrey.Elmore@ncleg.net; John.Faircloth@ncleg.net; Jim.Fulghum@ncleg.net; Mike.Hager@ncleg.net; Jon.Hardister@ncleg.net; Kelly.Hastings@ncleg.net; Mark.Hollo@ncleg.net; Bryan.Holloway@ncleg.net; Craig.Horn@ncleg.net; Julia.Howard@ncleg.net; Pat.Hurley@ncleg.net; Frank.Iler@ncleg.net; Charles.Jeter@ncleg.net; Linda.Johnson2@ncleg.net; Bert.Jones@ncleg.net; Jonathan.Jordan@ncleg.net; Donny.Lambeth@ncleg.net; James.Langdon@ncleg.net; David.Lewis@ncleg.net; Chris.Malone@ncleg.net; Susan.Martin@ncleg.net; Pat.McElraft@ncleg.net; Chuck.McGrady@ncleg.net; Allen.McNeill@ncleg.net; Chris.Millis@ncleg.net; Tim.Moffitt@ncleg.net; Tim.Moore@ncleg.net; Tom.Murry@ncleg.net; Michele.Presnell@ncleg.net; Nathan.Ramsey@ncleg.net; Dennis.Riddell@ncleg.net; Stephen.Ross@ncleg.net; Jason.Saine@ncleg.net; Ruth.Samuelson@ncleg.net; Jacqueline.Schaffer@ncleg.net; Mitchell.Setzer@ncleg.net; Phil.Shepard@ncleg.net; Paul.Stam@ncleg.net; Edgar.Starnes@ncleg.net; Bob.Steinburg@ncleg.net; Sarah.Stevens@ncleg.net; Michael.Stone@ncleg.net; John.Szoka@ncleg.net; Thom.Tillis@ncleg.net; John.Torbett@ncleg.net; Rena.Turner@ncleg.net; Harry.Warren@ncleg.net; Andy.Wells@ncleg.net; Roger.West@ncleg.net; Chris.Whitmire@ncleg.net

Use the following cut-and-paste email list to contact NC Senate Republicans:

Austin.Allran@ncleg.net, Tom.Apodaca@ncleg.net, Chad.Barefoot@ncleg.net, Tamara.Barringer@ncleg.net, Phil.Berger@ncleg.net, Stan.Bingham@ncleg.net, Andrew.Brock@ncleg.net, Harry.Brown@ncleg.net, Peter.Brunstetter@ncleg.net, Bill.Cook@ncleg.net, David.Curtis@ncleg.net, Warren.Daniel@ncleg.net, Jim.Davis@ncleg.net, Thom.Goolsby@ncleg.net, Rick.Gunn@ncleg.net, Kathy.Harrington@ncleg.net, Fletcher.Hartsell@ncleg.net, Ralph.Hise@ncleg.net, Neal.Hunt@ncleg.net, Brent.Jackson@ncleg.net, Wesley.Meredith@ncleg.net, Buck.Newton@ncleg.net, Louis.Pate@ncleg.net, Ron.Rabin@ncleg.net, Bill.Rabon@ncleg.net, Shirley.Randleman@ncleg.net, Bob.Rucho@ncleg.net, Norman.Sanderson@ncleg.net, Dan.Soucek@ncleg.net, Jeff.Tarte@ncleg.net, Jerry.Tillman@ncleg.net, Tommy.Tucker@ncleg.net, Trudy.Wade@ncleg.net

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject: Republicans will be held responsible for failure of HB 937

Dear Speaker Tillis/President Pro Tem Phil Berger/Governor Pat McCrory/Representative/Senator:

NC gun owners have worked too hard for too long and have spent too much time and money supporting politicians claiming to be pro-Second Amendment. If HB 937, the omnibus gun bill, fails to be passed into law we will hold you responsible.

You need to make sure this bill leaves the conference committee and is signed by Gov. McCrory. We’ve had enough of the political games. HB 937 must be signed into law this year or there will be a price to be paid during the next election.

You owe this to NC gun owners who are largely responsible for your election. Do not disappoint us.

I will be following progress through Grass Roots North Carolina legislative alerts.

Respectfully,

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Nothing Like A Little Blood Dancing On A Friday Afternoon

May 17, 2013 by 2 Comments

You have to hand it to the gun prohibitionists – they do love their blood dancing.

They are linking to a story about a negligent discharge by a woman in Colorado. It involved an intoxicated young woman who slipped and fell while returning to a party to show off her new AK. Unfortunately, the firearm was loaded, a round was chambered, and it seems obvious to me that she had her finger on the trigger. The end result was that she died.

While the Violence Policy Center is keying in on the “new assault rifle” (sic), the story in and of itself is a warning not to handle dangerous objects while intoxicated. It could have just as easily been a kitchen knife or an ice pick. We have all been warned to not run with scissors. This is just an extension of that old warning.

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John Kerry – “Gun Violence” Keeps Japanese Students Away

April 16, 2013 by 1 Comment

From the vaguely French looking Secretary of State who, by the way, served in Vietnam:

Secretary of State John Kerry thinks Japanese students don’t come to the United States to study because of “gun violence”. He goes on to say:

Kerry cited Japan’s tough gun laws preventing almost all private
firearms ownership and said the country was safer “where people are not
running around with guns.”

Of course I’m sure Japan also has laws about the possession of chemical weapons like Sarin but that didn’t stop the gas attacks on the Tokyo subway. Just like they have laws that make it illegal to kill schoolchildren, innocent bystanders, and coworkers with a knife.

UPDATE: The Washington Post evaluated Kerry’s claim and gave it a 3 Pinocchio’s out of a possible 4.  The number of Japanese exchange students has been declining for the last 15 years….as has their economy.