Too much going on, so here’s a LinkSwarm to start your day:
Posts Tagged ‘Guns’
LinkSwarm for June 18, 2013
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013Dear Everyone Freaking Out Over the Precision Guided Firearms Tracking Point: Freak Out Over Something Else
Wednesday, June 5th, 2013I know I’m a bit late to this party, since it was on Slashdot months ago, but people are evidently still freaking out over the Precision Guided Firearms Tracking Point rifle. That’s the rifle with the integrated fire control computer that automatically adjusts/delays the shot until it’s dead on target, radically reducing human error.
A writer friend fretted over someone using this to take a out a kindergarten.
Don’t. Spree killers simply don’t use $17,000, 20 pound rifles firing .338 Lapua.
This gun would be the exact opposite of a spree-killing gun, because it slows down the rate at which you fire to make a perfect on-target shot, the opposite of the spree killer’s MO. It’s also a distance weapon that’s too heavy and bulky to easily carry around. It’s a weapon for rich big game hunters and wealthy gadget freaks.
Spree killers aren’t into cool technogadgets, they’re mentally unstable losers looking to erase the shame of their own failures in a spectacular act of bloody criminal catharsis. (Plus a few completely insane, like the Tucson and Aurora shooters, whose motives are unfathomable.)
In that hypothetical kindergarten killing spree with the Tracking Point, our nutjob is only going to get 2 or 3 shots before his victims run screaming out of his scope range. He’d rack up a much higher body count by walking in with an AK or Mac-10.
Might this type of rifle be used for other types of crimes? Maybe high-end, long-distance hits and assassinations: One shot, one kill from a mile away. But the downside is that this is way too bulky and conspicuous to carry around for that purpose, and all the Tracking point guns seem to be chambered in exotic big game calibers, so legal owners of such a monster will probably come up on a list of possible perps pretty quickly.
About the last thing people need to worry about is potential spree killers with $17,000 burning a hole in their pocket. You’re more likely to be killed by a cow.
Missed One: Teacher Firearm Training Bill
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013In doing my roundup of gun bills in the Texas legislature, I missed Rep. Jason Villalba (R-Dallas)’s HB 1009 to allow schools to designated one “Marshal” for every 400 students eligible to receive firearm and emergency response training. Existing CHL holders on-staff would be eligible for the training. The measure passed the House and Senate and goes to Governor Perry’s desk for signing.
Quick Overview of Pro-Second Amendment Bills in the Texas Legislature
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013Dwight was kind enough to provide a quick rundown on a few pro-Second Amendment bills making their way through the Texas legislature. He also linked to the TSRAPAC site, which includes even more bill information. (I’ve also found Texas Firearms Freedom useful, and it includes a few more bills.) Since I’ve been meaning to do a rundown on these, and since I run a full-service blog, here’s an even more brief, high level summary of the state of various bills, with links to the text of the bills themselves:
I can’t find any online record for the stuff scheduled for May 20. I’ll let you know if I do.
LinkSwarm for May 10, 2013
Friday, May 10th, 2013For a shocking change of pace, the Friday LinkSwarm will be on Friday:
LinkSwarm for May 6, 2013
Monday, May 6th, 2013Time for another LinkSwarm!
I’m Not at the NRA Meeting in Houston. But Ted Cruz Is.
Friday, May 3rd, 2013I couldn’t go to the NRA annual meeting in Houston this weekend, as much as I would have liked to, because I went to a family even in Houston last week.
But fortunately, Ted Cruz is there.
“The Constitution matters. All of the Constitution matters. You don’t get to pick and choose.”
As a Fractional Indian, I Approve This Message
Monday, April 29th, 2013
And while we’re on the subject, I suspect that the Comanche and Apache warriors of the 19th century would far rather have bad-ass war machines named after them than be depicted as the wimpy, politically correct proto-Greens Hollywood tries to make them out to be…
Gun Update for April 25, 2012
Thursday, April 25th, 2013A random basket of gun news, including more fallout from the Senate’s failure to restrict gun rights:
Gun owners care year in and year out. And they vote on the issue. This had little to do with the fearsome power of “the NRA”, or their fundraising efforts. It had to do with gun owners who will do their best to unelect any politician who votes to deprive them of what they view as constitutional rights. Those gun owners are more likely to live in swing states than the most avid gun controllers: progressives who cram themselves into a handful of cities. And they vote on the issue, unlike progressives, who, for all their furor at the outcome, put a large number of issues–taxes, abortion, welfare programs, and so forth–much higher on their list of priorities. By 2014, the odds of any “No” vote losing their job over it are pretty slim.
MSM 4 Months Ago: Gun Control Inevitable. MSM Today: Gun Control Was Always Impossible
Thursday, April 18th, 2013They say that hindsight is 20/20, but when it comes to issues where the media elite disagree with actual voters, the MSM has always been at war with Eurasia.
Take a look at this Jennifer Steinhauer piece from yesterday explaining that gun control never really had a chance. “They were no match for the reason Democrats have avoided gun control fights for years: a combination of the political anxiety of vulnerable Democrats from conservative states, deep-seated Republican resistance and the enduring clout of the National Rifle Association.” That’s a long-winded way of saying “Voters.” (Hat tip: Dwight.)
Now look at this piece from December 17, 2012 by that same Jennifer Steinhauer:
Demonstrating rapidly shifting attitudes toward gun control in the aftermath of a massacre in a Connecticut school, many pro-gun Congressional Democrats — including Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader and a longstanding gun rights supporter — signaled an openness Monday to new restrictions on guns.
Snip.
The receptiveness to new gun laws from figures like Mr. Manchin suggested the National Rifle Association, long one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington, would face a strong test of its influence in the coming months if it sought to fend off tougher restrictions.
Snip.
On Capitol Hill, Democrats made it clear that they were ready to consider changes after years of pointedly avoiding fights over gun laws lest they face adverse political consequences in swing states and districts.
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, who has the strong backing of the N.R.A., said Monday that there should be “stricter rules on the books” regarding guns, and he called the school shootings “a game changer.”
So: Victory for the Second Amendment was impossible right up until it was inevitable.