Another month down! here’s one final LinkSwarm to finish off July:
Archive for the ‘Guns’ Category
Leland Yee Pleads Guilty To One Count of Racketeering
Thursday, July 2nd, 2015As part of a plea agreement, former California Democratic state senator Leland Yee plead guilty to one count of racketeering, as did three other co-defendants. Yee, in case you don’t remember, was charged with being involved in a wide web of corruption, including gun running (a special irony for a politician known for supporting gun control), murder for hire schemes, drugs, extortion, and campaign finance law violations.
If he’s only pleading guilty to one charge, my guess would be that Yee is going to flip and testify on Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow and other defendants in the sprawling case. However, the actual plea agreement ((via Dwight via Popehat) evidently doesn’t specify cooperation against Chow or other defendants.
It’s great they’re getting Yee to plead, but since Yee (being a state senator) was the “big fish” and given the lengthy list of original charges, the fact they’re only getting him to cop to one count suggests the case may have had some shaky planks. (Maybe an unreliable witness?) Or that there was so much more they could nail Chow on that they didn’t want to keep spending so much time on Yee.
Or that political cronies somehow managed to swing him a soft deal…
Belated News: Grand Jury No-Bills John Daub
Thursday, June 25th, 2015I missed this good news when it came out on June 2, but a Travis County Grand Jury has declined to indict John Daub in the self-defense shooting death of a home intruder who turned out to be autistic.
And his blog, Stuff from Hsoi, is available again.
Governor Abbot Signs Emergency Prep Sale Tax Holiday Into Law
Monday, June 22nd, 2015Put this in the category of news that didn’t make the news.
You may recall mention of two sales tax holiday bills working their way through the legislature.
The good news is that SB904, the emergency/preparation bill, was signed by Governor Abbott on June 15. While the law itself takes effect on September 1, the first day of the actual sales tax holiday for the enumerated emergency prep items is the last weekend in April, which in 2016 will be April 23-24. At the very least, consider it a good weekend to stock up on batteries.
As to why no news outlet seems to have even mentioned this fact in passing, I couldn’t tell you.
The bad news is that it appears both HB 849 and SB 228 died in committee before the end of the legislative session. Since no special session is currently planned, it seems unlikely there will be a hunting and guns sales tax holiday any time in the next two years.
Colt Files for Bankruptcy
Tuesday, June 16th, 2015In a move that had been a long time coming, Colt Defense LLC filed for bankruptcy on Monday.
It takes an epic level of incompetence for a gun company to lose money in the era of Obama, but Colt was obviously up to the challenge.
Colt has struggled in recent years with supply-chain and working capital issues, a slowdown in rifle sales and its 2013 loss of a key contract to supply the U.S. Army with the M4. As a result of some of its operational issues, the company has had accounting problems that caused it to revise prior years’ reported financial results and miss a creditor’s initial filing deadline for an annual report, according to regulatory filings.
Ask gunnies what the problem with Colt is, and they’ll tell you a disinterest in the civilian market compared to pursuing government contracts, as well as a desire to charge premium prices for ordinary guns. That, plus the “felonious mismanagement” is what did them in.
A shame. With competent management, the makers of the AR-15 should have been making money hand over fist the last six years…
Gov. Abbott Signs Open and Campus Carry Bills
Saturday, June 13th, 2015This afternoon, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the Open Carry and Campus Carry bills into law at Red’s Indoor Range in Pflugerville. (I can tell you from experience that it’s hard enough to get a shooting lane at Red’s even when the governor isn’t there.)
Note that as per the actual text of the open carry bill, open carry for CHL holders goes into effect January 1, 2016. I’ve seen various commentators cite a date of September 1st, but that’s just the date for various Texas agencies to have administrative plans in place for complying with the new regulations. So don’t go wearing your holsters in public on September 1st, or you’re likely to receive a very rude awakening…
Round Rock Bass Pro Shop Opened Today
Wednesday, June 10th, 2015Today at 6 PM was the grand opening for the new Bass Pro Shop in Round Rock. People who have shopped there assure me that this is a Really Big Deal.
At first glance the gun prices don’t look great to me, but maybe I can pick up some decent cargo shorts…
Campus Carry Headed to Abbott’s Desk
Monday, June 1st, 2015Senate Bill 11, the campus carry bill sponsored by Sen. Brian Birdwell, has passed the Texas House. It had already passed the Senate earlier, so now it’s headed to the desk of Governor Greg Abbott, who has promised to sign it. The only downside is that it doesn’t take effect until August 1, 2016.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Abbott signs both the campus carry and open carry bills today.
Open Carry Headed to Governor Abbott’s Desk
Friday, May 29th, 2015Open Carry has passed both the House and Senate. It’s now headed to the desk of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has said he’ll sign it.
“House Bill 910 [warning: 46 page PDF] from state Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, would allow license-holders to carry handguns openly in a hip or shoulder holster, changing current law requiring that such weapons be concealed.” The “cop stop” amendment has evidently been stripped from the final bill.