stupidity

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Under The Bus

September 13, 2012 by 13 Comments

If I am reading a statement from Heckler & Koch correctly, they have thrown RECOIL Magazine under the bus.

From a post on Facebook by the HK Pro Shooting Team:

Some readers have misinterpreted a recent feature story in RECOIL magazine as a reflection of HK policy. Heckler & Koch has a long presence in the US civilian market and throughout that time has been an ardent and passionate supporter of the Second Amendment and the American civilian shooter. This will always be the case. The contents, opinions, and statements expressed in that feature story are t
hose of the writer, not Heckler and Koch’s. Additionally, the writer and RECOIL magazine have issued a clarification and apology for the ill-chosen words used in the story.

The HK MP7A1 4.6 mm Personal Defense Weapon mentioned in the story is a selective-fire product (capable of “full automatic” fire) and is currently restricted to military and law enforcement agencies by BATF. HK-USA has previously researched introducing similar commercial products, chambered in 4.6 mm, but it was determined that the final product would not have enough appeal or be legally feasible.

— Heckler & Koch USA

I’ve stayed out of this controversy because others have covered it so well.

I do not plan to buy/subscribe to RECOIL Magazine. The one copy I scanned at Barnes & Noble just wasn’t to my tastes. I’m more of a Guns/American Handgunner/Rifle/Handloader kind of guy.

Moreover, they have done the gun rights community no  favors as this post by Miguel makes clear. You knew it was only a matter of time before the trolls at CSGV jumped on it.

RECOIL is as Grant Cunningham so aptly calls it a “dead magazine walking”.

As I said on Monday, the new generation of shooters needs their own magazine. This one, bankrolled by someone whose political associations are highly suspect, may not be it. The shooting fraternity still needs a magazine like RECOIL, but it needs to be one which doesn’t compromise on the Second Amendment. Could RECOIL become that magazine? I have my doubts, especially after their publisher dug in his heels to support the status quo, but I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt if they truly repent.

I agree with Grant that I have my doubts. When you have both the editor and publisher doubling down, it doesn’t inspire confidence. It may not matter much as it looks like a number of major advertisers plan to take their money elsewhere.

I’ll let Soldier Systems have the final word on RECOIL and its survival.

But, what is worse than some losing advertisers and readers is their relationship with the very industry that they are supposed to be covering. Rather than manning up and accepting Mr Tsai’s words, they are now blaming the words and associated anti-Second Amendment sentiment on Heckler & Koch. Well done. You’ve now alienated one gun maker and the others are probably rubbing their chins wondering if you’ll make them look bad as well. Who is going to provide samples for those cute little photo layouts? What gun company is going to take them to the range? Who will even talk to them? You can’t have a magazine without content. I supported ‘Recoil’ from the beginning and I would have stayed right behind them had they shown industry that they were willing to learn from this and move forward. Instead, they don’t get it at all. They’ve now taken an adversarial stance toward the firearms and tactical industries. I can’t abide by that.

I have heard various versions of this today so I’ll just paraphrase, “Recoil, you need industry. You’ve shown us we don’t need you.”

UPDATE: ToddG at pistol-training.com provides a very astute comment on the whole RECOIL controversy with regard to HK and why they haven’t made a semi-auto version of the MP7A1. He points out that not only does HK have to comply with US import laws but they have to deal with draconian German export laws as well.

Someone at HK presumably sat down and ran the numbers. First, how neutered would a US-legal over the counter MP7A1 have to be? Fire control group would need to be designed not just to be semi automatic only but also meet ATF restrictions on being converted back to select fire. A new 16″ barrel would have to be developed… not only does a 16″ bbl MP7A1 pretty much ruin the point of the MP7A1 in the first place, but do you know what HK goes through to develop new barrels? It isn’t cheap. Then you’d need 5- and 10-round magazines for various states, a fixed stock for some states, etc., etc., etc.

Next, you have to figure out how many of these neutered MP7A1′s will actually sell. It’s easy for people on the internet to say “I’d buy me one of them!” but that doesn’t actually translate one-for-one into sales of what would likely be a $2,000 firearm that uses hard to find, expensive, proprietary ammunition.

Finally, you plug all that into H.A.L. and ask him if the cost to come to market is a reasonable investment of company funds. The answer, in this case, is almost certainly no.

You want a civy-legal MP7A1? Commit to buying 25,000 of them and I’ll put you in touch with a guy at HK who might be able to make that happen for you. In the meantime, don’t get blinded by the “blame the manufacturer” smoke screen from Jerry Tsai and the public relations chimpanzees at RECOIL Magazine.

This may piss off some readers but you have to remember that gun manufacturing is a business and we can’t get all the shiny new toys just because we want them. If a manufacturer can’t make a decent profit on a line of firearms they aren’t going to stay in business long pushing money-losing products. That’s the difference between private enterprise and the government.

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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”.

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A Dukakis Moment?

August 19, 2012 by 1 Comment

There must be something in the water up in Massachusetts. I can’t think of anything else to explain the propensity of liberal Democrats to sit atop heavy metal to prove their toughness.

First, there was former Gov. Michael Dukakis who rode on a M1A Abrams tank in 1988. That image plus the Willie Horton ads probably doomed his presidential campaign as much as anything.

Now we have Harvard Law professor and US Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren pictured astride a Harley. You can almost hear her saying, “Vroom, vroom!” It was tweeted by Emily’s List which seeks to support liberal female candidates. However, it was pretty stupid as people are already calling it her Dukakis moment.

Rather than calling it a Dukakis Moment, I think Fauxcahontas just wants to be like JayG of the gun blog MArooned.

H/T Legal Insurrection

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Danville, North Carolina?

August 15, 2012 by 4 Comments

I knew the state of North Carolina was expanding but I only thought it was expanding its population. According to the Vice President of the United States, the esteemed Joseph Robinette “Joe” Biden, Jr., North Carolina has now annexed the south-central Virginia city of Danville and made it part of the Old North State.

The mapmaker who made the map below clearly shows Danville to be in Virginia. He or she must not have taken their cartography training from the Vice-President and is clearly wrong because Joe Biden doesn’t make mistakes.

Or does he?

H/T Gateway Pundit

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54% Of People Surveyed Don’t Have A Clue

August 11, 2012 by 3 Comments

Gallup recently polled 1,014 Americans over age 18 living in the United States on their view of how good a job TSA is doing. Unbelievably, 54% of those polled think TSA is doing either an excellent or good job.

I knew there were a lot of stupid people but I never realized the numbers were that high.

It gets worse. Of those who have flown at least once in the last 12 months, 57% think they are doing a good or excellent job.

If there is anything encouraging about this poll is that less than half of all those surveyed – 41% –  believe that the screening procedures are either extremely or very effective. That said, only 13% of those surveyed don’t think the TSA is “not too effective” or “not effective at all”. I guess I should be happy that at least 13% of those surveyed have a grasp on reality.

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Wisdom From Noted Outdoorsman Steny Hoyer

July 25, 2012 by 1 Comment

In an effort to steal a page from Jim Zumbo, House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) opined that he didn’t know any Maryland hunters using AR-15s to hunt deer, ducks, or geese. His remarks came at a media breakfast organized by the Christian Science Monitor.

“Assault weapons have one purpose and one purpose only, to kill a lot of people quickly, no other purpose. I don’t think anybody hunts deer, quail, geese, in Maryland with an assault rifle. And if they do, they shouldn’t be,” he said, though conceded that there is not enough support in Congress to revive the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004.

Perhaps one reason Mr. Hoyer doesn’t know anyone hunting ducks and geese with an AR-15 is because it is against Maryland hunting regulations. The only firearms allowed for hunting migratory game birds in Maryland are shotguns. Moreover, much of Maryland – and it seems all of Hoyer’s district – restricts the use of rifles in hunting deer and only allow shotguns. In those place that do allow centerfire rifles, it must have a cartridge that generates 1,200 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. Many 5.56 or .223 rounds fall short of this requirement.

Now if Mr. Hoyer knew any woodchuck or coyote hunters he’d know that an AR-15 is not only suitable but ideal for hunting them. Frankly, I think that even if Steny Hoyer was confronted with the facts about the use of ARs in hunting, he’d still make the same stupid and outrageous comments.

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Who’s The Bigger Idiot?

June 14, 2012 by 1 Comment

I’m trying to figure out who in this case comes across as the bigger idiot – the media or the sheriff and his staff

On Tuesday, the Broward County Sheriff’s Department arrested the owners of a pain clinic in Pompano Beach (FL) on charges of money laundering, racketeering, and prescription drug trafficking. They then seized guns and money from the owners’ home and office.

As to who comes off like the bigger idiot, I’ll let you make the call.

First, here is the lead paragraph of the story by Linda Trischitta of the Sun Sentinel:

The confiscated arsenal includes two short-barreled assault rifles, a portable rocket launcher case and a tiny .22-caliber pistol that would fit in a brassiere.

Including “a portable rocket launcher case” in the list of a “confiscated arsenal” is pretty stupid. Reporters are not known for having gun smarts. However, it seems the sheriff of Broward County and some of his staff are trying to out-stupid the media when it comes to firearms.

Sheriff Al Lamberti had this to say:

During a news conference at BSO’s Fort Lauderdale headquarters, Sheriff Al Lamberti called the firearms array “scary” and “sophisticated” and “not the day-to-day, target practice weapons you’d normally see.”

But, officials acknowledged, the bulk of the weapons had been legally purchased.

You almost expect him to say the doctors arrested had firearms with that shoulder thing that goes up.

Sgt. Ted Taranu of the BSO then displays the arrogance (and stupidity) that serves to tarnish the reputation of all the good law enforcement officers out there:

The olive-green rocket launcher case did not contain its projectile, and was harmless.

Sgt. Ted Taranu of BSO’s gun squad said it is not illegal to possess such a souvenir, but that a civilian really shouldn’t have one.

“The military controls such equipment that could perhaps be bought at a gun show or from a private collector for around $500,” said Taranu. BSO will now try to determine who bought it, and from where.

Sheriff Lamberti, by the way, is a Republican. It goes to show that Democrats don’t hold the license on making anti-gun comments nor that Republicans are always pro-gun.

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Reparations? Utter Nonsense From The UN

April 10, 2012 by 3 Comments

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has now weighed in on the Trayvon Martin cases and says reparations are due. Excuse me? Reparations? You have to wonder how an organization such as the UN was allowed to fall so low over the years.

Although local, state and federal inquiries have been underway for weeks, Pillay called for “an immediate investigation” into the shooting.

“Justice must be done for the victim,” she told a media briefing in Hastings, on the southern end of the Caribbean island [of Barbados]. “It’s not just this individual case, it calls into question the delivery of justice in all situations like this.”

“In this particular case it was the family itself, their distress that became known to the general public – once again people pressure that has drawn attention to this case. It shouldn’t be so,” Pillay continued. “The law should operate equally in respect of all violations. So, like every other situation such as this, we will be urging an investigation, and prosecution and trial – and of course reparation for the victims concerned.”

Pillay, a South African jurist, was appointed U.N. rights chief in 2008 and is based in Geneva, at the home of the U.N. Human Rights Council. She is a former judge at the International Criminal Court and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

According to her official bio she has masters and doctorate degrees from Harvard University in human rights and international law. I’m sure Harvard is very proud of her but one does have to wonder just exactly what she learned in Cambridge.

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Enlightened Comment Of The Day

March 15, 2012 by

Florida’s “stand your ground” law which does not require a duty to retreat in the face of a deadly threat is generating some really off-the-wall comments as a result of the Trayvon Martin case. Case in point is this comment by Gregory O’Meara.

Gregory O’Meara, an associate professor of law at Marquette University School of Law, agrees.

“These ‘stand your ground’ laws license pistol-packing urban cowboys and paranoid people,” says O’Meara, who fought the passage of a similar law in Wisconsin. “We’ve all been trained to be afraid of black men, and if you’re afraid enough that justifies everything.”

Professor O’Meara is also Father O’Meara as he is a member of the Jesuit order. The Jesuit Order has traditionally been known for their academic and intellectual rigor. Given his comment above, Father O’Meara seems to have strayed from the Jesuit tradition and is instead embracing the mindset of Father “Snuffy” Pfleger.

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So Absurd I Don’t Know Where To Start

February 28, 2012 by 3 Comments

Yesterday afternoon, Edward McClelland, the Ward Room blogger for NBC Chicago, had a post entitled “Let’s Follow the Entire Second Amendment.” The post was so absurd, I really don’t know where to begin.

McClelland starts by attacking what he calls Second Amendment Absolutists.

Frequently, I hear gun owners describe themselves as “Second Amendment Absolutists.” By this, they mean they should be able to own any gun they want — a potato gun, a .22-caliber pistol, an elephant gun, a bazooka — and take it anywhere they want, hidden inside their pants. As justification, they point to a clause in the Second Amendment, declaring “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

McClelland says “Second Amendment Absolutists” cited this language in the McDonald case and in the suits against the State of Illinois concerning concealed carry. He accuses gun rights supporters of ignoring the complete language of the Second Amendment by leaving out the prefatory clause, “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state”, regularly. He then goes on to state his understanding (or misunderstanding) of the Second Amendment.

As I read it, the amendment guarantees Americans the right to keep and bear arms so they can form a militia. Yet very few Second Amendment Absolutists belong to militias, or even look as though they’re in shape for combat.

He then takes this a step further and makes a proposal to Gov. Pat Quinn and Attorney General Lisa Madigan regarding carry laws in the State of Illinois.

if the Second Amendment Absolutists are going to hold you to the second half of the Second Amendment, hold them to the first half: tell them they can carry any gun they want, anywhere they want, as long as they join the state’s militia, the Illinois National Guard. It would require one weekend a month of training, plus the possibility of active duty if the United States becomes involved in a war.

McClelland undoubtedly thinks he is being smart. Or a smart ass. He even calls it a win-win for the State of Illinois as the “National Guard could solve both its manpower shortage and its firepower shortage. The new recruits would all bring their own guns. “
Of course, he ignores 10 USC § 311 which defines the militia – both organized and unorganized.

(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.

It also ignores the holding of the majority in District of Columbia v. Heller which found that the Second Amendment was an individual right and that the prefatory clause neither limited nor expanded the right in the operative clause.

Held:
1. The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a
firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for
traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.
Pp. 2–53.
(a) The Amendment’s prefatory clause announces a purpose, but
does not limit or expand the scope of the second part, the operative
clause. The operative clause’s text and history demonstrate that it
connotes an individual right to keep and bear arms. Pp. 2–22.

Fortunately, these is not one comment to the entire post that agrees with McClelland’s so-called interpretation of the Second Amendment. Yet, I can imagine some people who do read it will be shaking their heads in agreement and that is sad.