Archive for the ‘Guns’ Category

LinkSwarm for February 10, 2014

Monday, February 10th, 2014

These LinkSwarms tend to get pushed back to days when there’s not a big story jumping up and requiring my attention. It seems like the Olympics have created a bit of a news lull

  • Democratic congressmen abandoning ObamaCare in droves.
  • Obama’s fake recovery sucks in comparison to Reagan’s real recovery. Why? ObamaCare.
  • People who overestimate their income, thus getting a subsidy rather than thrown into Medicaid, might be in for a nasty surprise come tax time.
  • Today’s Democratic representative retiring after getting caught with his hand in the till comes to you from Rep. Ron Andrews of New Jersey.
  • Today’s example of a Democratic member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns being convicted of a felony (in this case bribery) also comes to you from New Jersey, in the form of Trenton Mayor Tony Mack. But as you observe all this Democratic malfeasance in New Jersey, never lose sight of the truly important thing: Chris Christie might have closed a bridge!
  • Here’s a fascinating piece from Ace of Spades HQ on class identification among the gentry left.
  • And this piece on “Love in the Time of Obama” is well worth reading on its own.
  • Massachusetts state Democrat Rep. Carlos Henriquez’s schedule: 1. Smack my bitch up, 2. Mark my bills up. Yes, assaulting a woman is evidently no reason to keep him from working as a legislator…
  • More black Chicago residents question what the Democratic Party has done for the black community.

    Heartening, but I can’t help but notice that some of the same people appear in this video as the one from that town hall meeting in December. Makes it hard to gauge just how widespread black America’s dissatisfaction with Obama is…

  • The Turncoat Diaries: “The conversions of Charlie Crist, from Republican to independent to Democrat, make up one of the least inspiring tales in modern politics. To take it seriously is to admit you’re the sort of person who takes Scientology stress tests and supplies credit card info to anyone who claims to need help from Nigeria.”
  • People move from high tax, high regulation states bleeding jobs to low-tax, low-regulation states gaining jobs. Gee, who knew?
  • How Russia is trying to keep control of Ukraine.
  • NBC calls the end of the Soviet Union “bittersweet”. Much like Hitler’s suicide…

  • Tweets from Sochi: Missing floors, open manholes, yellow tap water, and “cakes in ass.”
  • More: “Three of the nine mountain hotels have not been completed.”
  • Title company executive dead in nailgun “suicide.” Patrick Bateman wanted for questioning.
  • Inside the Red Light Camera Bribe Machine. Redflex has done business with several cities, including “Austin, El Paso, Plano, Corpus Christi, Grand Prairie, North Richland Hills, Hurst, Port Lavaca, League City, Carrollton, Killeen, Mesquite, and Longview.” (Hat tip: Dwight.)
  • Even Howard YEAGGGGHHH Dean thinks the Iran deal sucks.
  • When principled lefty Alan Derschowitz says the Dinesh D’Souza case is “selective prosecution,” perhaps we should listen.
  • New York City schools Harrison Bergeron a gifted students course because of their unacceptable albedo index. (Hat tip: Indapundit.)
  • Michael Totten visits some of the least-crappy parts of Cuba.
  • When I think “high tech giants,” certainly the first name that comes to mind is Chelsea Clinton. Nepotism much, SXSW? (Hat tip: Jim Geraghty in NRO.
  • Slashdot users in open revolt over a redesign. Take one look at the Beta site and you know why: It is indeed a big, festering mound of suck.
  • Adobe to release new DRM scheme that’s annoying, useless, and screws older customers.
  • Ten scenes from Blazing Saddles too politically incorrect to be made today.
  • Did Bill Clinton add Elizabeth Hurley to his list of in-White House conquests?
  • Round Rock ISD committee chairman tries to bypass laws to make changes to sex ed.
  • On tour with the Sex Pistols in Texas.
  • Pull The Other One, Wendy

    Thursday, February 6th, 2014

    Normally I would applaud a member of the Democratic Party supporting Second Amendment rights. But Wendy Davis supporting open carry?

    Right. Pull the other one.

    After all, this is the same Wendy Davis who voted against concealed carry by authorized CHL holders on college campuses, keeping Texas campuses fictive “gun free zones.” She also tried to do what Austin is trying to do: force gun shows to impose additional background checks on private citizens.

    The fact that Davis hasn’t been universally opposed to gun rights may be explained by the fact that she’s a state senator in Texas, one with significant suburban and rural constituents and who only won her last election with 51% of the vote and thus one for which a hard-left gun control position would be a career-ending exercise. It’s also possible that, like Arlen Specter, another former Republican, she may have no fixed political positions whatsoever beyond the belief she should hold political office (or perhaps none beyond support for unlimited abortion).

    Davis’ open carry pander is the worst kind of pander for a politician: a ham-handed, ineffective and incompetent one. Since Davis is already running as a liberal darling, and Abbott has already embraced open carry, there’s no chance this move will win her real converts among single-issue Second Amendment supporters, but a very real chance it will alienate her national liberal fundraising base.

    Wendy Davis is a credible leader on Second Amendment rights the way Danny DeVito is a credible NBA center.

    Guns/Crime Roundup for January 30, 2014

    Thursday, January 30th, 2014

    Time for another roundup of gun news, with a nice savory side-dish of criminal stupidity:

  • Dick Metcalf is like a guy who converted to Islam, then wonders why he can’t be a Catholic bishop anymore.
  • Could Abramski vs. United States strike down the ATF’s “straw purchase” regulations? Even so, unlike the poster, I don’t think this will mean “the gun-grabber’s drive for universal background checks is over as a constitutional matter,” since the gun grabbers will never give up on trying to disarm the law-abiding…
  • 12-year Oklahoma girl shoots home invader. She and her family are the sort of people Piers Morgan wants to disarm.
  • Sprouts decides that they don’t want law-abiding gun owners to shop there.
  • Florida lawmakers attempt to get the state to ban cooperation with Obama’s gun-grabbing agenda. Since it cites the Tenth Amendment, it’s not quite South Carolina’s 1832 Ordinance of Nullification… (Hat tip: Alphecca.)
  • Illinois wants to disarm those on medical marijuana.
  • Here’s a ProTip for another criminal supergenius: If you’re a registered sex offender, don’t film yourself firing guns.
  • Nicholas Johnson’s Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms is now out.
  • Naked and masturbating in the middle of an intersection is no way to go through life, son. (Hate tip: Ace.)
  • Member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns Sentenced to 20 Months for Illegal Gun Crime

    Wednesday, January 15th, 2014

    Hey, remember Nurse Bloomberg’s gun-grabbing Mayors Against Illegal Guns? Turns out that yet another member has been sentenced to prison for an illegal gun crime.

    A former Pennsylvania mayor who was a member of Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns has been sentenced to up to 20 months in jail for a gun-related crime. Last February, James Schiliro, the mayor of Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, fired a gun in an attempt to intimidate a man to whom he said he was attracted.

    Schiliro had had police bring 20-year-old Nicholas Dorsam to his home to drink wine, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. When Dorman attempted to leave, Schiliro prevented him from doing so, shooting the gun into a stack of papers and threatened to kill himself.

    Can Bloomberg pick them or what?

    This is not the first time a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns has been convicted of a felony, nor even the first time one has been convicted of a gun crime.

    By contrast the conviction rate among Texas CHL holders is exceedingly low. So why does Bloomberg’s group continue to push for the disarmament of the law-abiding?

    Travis County Ending Gun Shows at the Expo Center?

    Thursday, January 9th, 2014

    So it appears:

    Travis County won’t be hosting a gun show in its Exposition Center after this month, after county commissioners did not renew a lease for the controversial event.

    “Controversial” in the sense that “liberals don’t like it.”

    Saxet Gun Shows has been hosting the nearly-monthly show at the Expo Center since 2010 and had been negotiating a new contract for eight shows from March to January 2015, but got nowhere as county officials wanted the company to require background checks for all firearm sales. The company refused to require background checks for all transactions, and neither side has budged in the weeks of discussions, officials said.

    (Hat tip: Dwight.)

    Does this count as a violation of the preemption clause of Section 229 of the Texas local government code, which states:

    (a) Notwithstanding any other law, including Section 43.002 of this code and Chapter 251, Agriculture Code, a municipality may not adopt regulations relating to:

    (1) the transfer, private ownership, keeping, transportation, licensing, or registration of firearms, ammunition, or firearm supplies

    I am not a lawyer, so I don’t want to hazard guess. It certainly seems less clear-cut than when they tried to ban gun shows outright. I did send off a tweet to Texas Attorney General (and 2014 gubernatorial favorite) Greg Abbott to ask his opinion…

    Magpul Moving Headquarters to Texas

    Friday, January 3rd, 2014

    When firearm magazine manufacturer Magpul announced they were leaving Colorado over knee-jerk magazine capacity legislation (funny how outlawing their perfectly legal product will sour a company on a state), most thought that Texas was a long-shot for them to relocate to, with Wyoming being a more likely destination.

    They were half right.

    Magpul is indeed relocating it’s manufacturing and distribution to Cheyenne, Wyoming, but they’re relocating their headquarters to Texas.

    According to the official press release:

    Magpul is moving its corporate headquarters to Texas. Three North Central Texas sites are under final consideration, and the transition to the Texas headquarters will begin as soon as the facility is selected. The Texas relocation is being accomplished with support from Governor Rick Perry and the Texas Economic Development Corporation.

    Man, what an idiot Rick Perry is! All he does is keep bringing jobs to the state!

    Perry has earned the right to crow a bit:

    “In Texas, we understand that freedom breeds prosperity, which is why we’ve built our economy around principles that allow employers to innovate, keep more of what they earn and create jobs,” Gov. Perry said. “I’m proud that Magpul is the latest employer to join the ranks of companies that call Texas home.”

    “Excessive government regulation undermines a culture based on personal responsibility and creates a detrimental business environment,” Magpul CEO Richard Fitzpatrick said. “Texas supports personal freedoms and our company will thrive in that environment.”

    Gov. Perry has reached out to more than 30 firearm manufacturers in states across the country that are considering restricting sales and manufacturing in the industry. Magpul cited the Lone Star State’s business-friendly environment, predictable regulations and consistent respect for the Second Amendment as key elements in its decision to relocate.

    Ted Cruz offers up a friendly Texas welcome as well:

    This follows Bold Ideas/Colt Competition moving moving to Texas from Oregon,

    All is proceeding as I have foreseen.

    Scenes from the Cornyn-Stockman Senate Race

    Thursday, January 2nd, 2014

    A few tidbits on this race:

  • Steve Stockman is now accepting Bitcoins for his run against John Cornyn. This is pretty much a gimmick, as the tiny, Slashdot-centric audience who follow Bitcoin are singularly unlikely to involve themselves in Republican Party primaries. Another tiny problem: they’re not approved as a donation method by the FEC.
  • John Cornyn gets endorsed by the NRA. An incumbent Republican Senator with an A rating from the NRA getting their endorsement is hardly a surprise, but it’s a good pickup for him, especially since Stockman recently said that the tears of liberals make the best gun lubricant, and counts both the NRA and Gun Owners of America among previous endorsements.
  • Cornyn’s Texans for a Conservative Majority SuperPAC has already spent $70,000 slamming Stockman.
  • Stockman also compared Cornyn to PajamaBoy (Warning: Wiegel/Slate). That’s not so much a stretch as a rubber-band that’s already broken and been thrown away…
  • The only poll I’ve seen has Cornyn up 44 points, though this early that’s largely a name-recognition issue.
  • Cornyn’s name will appear last on Brewster county’s ballots.
  • LinkSwarm for December 9, 2013

    Monday, December 9th, 2013

    A LinKSwarm to start your Monday off, with a mix of old and new:

  • Obama’s popularity down among the Obama coalition:

    Obama’s job approval rating among Hispanic Americans has plunged from 75 percent in December 2012 to 52 percent today — a drop of 23 percentage points, the sharpest decline among any voter group. Among Americans who make less than $24,000 a year, the president’s approval rating has fallen from 64 percent last December to 46 percent today. Among Americans 18 to 29 years of age, it has fallen from 61 percent to 46 percent. Among women, it has fallen from 57 percent to 43 percent.

    Evidently free contraceptives don’t trump lost jobs and insurance. (Hat tip: Instapundit.)

  • First came the first wave of ObamaCare “cancellation shock” as policies were dropped left and right. Next comes the “Doc Shock,” as people lose physicians who won’t cut their rates for ObamaCare plans. (Hat tip: Instapundit and Ed Driscoll.)
  • Indeed, 7 out of 10 California doctors are boycotting California’s ObamaCare exchanges. When you’ve lost California…
  • So get ready to see a lot more signs like this. (Hat tip: Ace of Spades.)
  • “The GOP establishment is loath to admit it, but the government shutdown is turning out to be a brilliant political chess move on the part of Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee.”
  • Why the hell is Paul Ryan trying to undo the sequester cuts?
  • New York City starts confiscating rifles and shotguns.
  • On Twitter, #LiesObamaToldUs trended for three straight days. Well, it’s a target-rich environment…
  • Photojournalist robbed twice in one day in Detroit. Funny how 50 years of Democratic rule mean that government is unable to enforce its most central function: keeping the populace safe by enforcing the rule of law.
  • Why you don’t stop shooting until the threat is neutralized:

    (Hat tip: Ace of Spades.)

  • Is Hollywood turning the Biblical story of Noah into another tree-hugging Dances With Smurfs?
  • Gun & Crime LinkSwarm for November 20, 2013

    Wednesday, November 20th, 2013

    We interrupt our continuing series on the failures of ObamaCare to bring you a dollop of gun- and crime-related news:

  • It takes a special kind of super-genius to threaten to shoot gun-rights activists.
  • Though that does give me a chance to bring up the Recall Hudak Too campaign, to recall another gun-grabbing Colorado state senator.
  • San Francisco magazine ban challanged in court. (Hat tip: Alphecca.)
  • Requiring liability insurance for gun owners appears to be dead for now.
  • World’s first 3D printed metal gun. And they’re in Austin!
  • Meet Monticello, NY Mayor Gordon Jenkins. He’s a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. He’s also been arrested for DWI and hitting a cop. Funny how so many people in favor of “gun control” can’t seem to practice self-control.
  • Another dead goblin.
  • Speaking of dead goblins: Armed homeowner gets the drop on intruder by pretending to be deaf and blind. Only problem with the story is that some details don’t match up: “The intruder lowered his weapon for a moment — long enough for Carlson to grab his own loaded Glock 9mm handgun.” Then: “‘I’ve never had my revolver out of my pocket in 50-some odd years,’ Carlson said by phone Friday evening.” To the best of my knowledge, Glock doesn’t make any revolvers, much less a 9mm. (There are 9mm revolvers, but they’re not particularly common.) Possibly the owner was speaking with colloquial inaccuracy, or was misquoted.
  • In Pierce County, Washington, an armed homeowner killed an intruder who drove his car through a metal gate, then broke into his house. Not exactly the perfect stealthy crime…
  • “Drunk Florida Man Tries to Use Taco as ID After His Car Catches Fire.”
  • Uh…noted without comment:

  • ObamaCare LinkSwarm for November 19, 2013

    Tuesday, November 19th, 2013

    I actually forgot to add a bunch of ObamaCare links to yesterday’s LinkSwarm, so here they are along with some of newer vintage. Every day, the disaster get’s worse for Democrats (and the nation). It’s like a Hindenburg that never stops exploding.

  • More now think Obama bungled ObamaCare (63%) than now think Bush bungled Iraq (44%), or even at the Iraq war’s nadir of unpopularity (57%)
  • Why ObamaCare is on life-support.
  • How unpopular is #ObamaCare? Try “Fugitive Slave Act in Boston in 1858” unpopular.
  • Speaking of unpopular, Obama’s ratings are off the chart bad. (Hat tip: Moe Lane.)
  • It took Obama to turn the American public libertarian. “Majority in U.S. Say Healthcare Not Gov’t Responsibility”.
  • Ace explains the difference between the Upton and Landrieu bills.
  • D.C. insurance commissioner fired 24 hours after questioning ObamaCare “fix.” (Also via Ace.)
  • The New Republic develops a case of the vapors over ObamaCare dooming big government.
  • Does Obama’s latest “ObamaCare means what I say it means” open him up for a Supreme Court challenge?
  • Number of successful #ObamaCare enrollees in NC: 1. Wait, they haven’t paid yet. 0.
  • Not even Obama is saying the ObamaCare website will be fixed by the December 1st deadline. Now it will be “improved”. I guess they’re changing the clip-art…