Posts Tagged ‘Guns’

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Keep Those Cards and Letters Coming

Wednesday, January 9th, 2013

Dwight has now put up even more extensive contact information for Austin City Council and Travis County bigwigs, complete with linkable, clickable goodness, providing a more efficient way to express your displeasure over the proposed gun show ban.

Also, here’s Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson debating a gun grabber on the subject:

And here’s a KXAN piece on the issue, including the Abbott news I put up yesterday. Notice how the writer ends with “Both Biscoe and Eckhardt are Democrats. Abbott is a Republican.” Funny that no news outlet felt the need to mention the political affiliation of these seeking gun control (including Ed Scruggs, the Travis County resident initially reported as seeking such a ban, who also happens to be the founder of Circle C Democrats) until a Republican got involved in opposing them.

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Posted in Austin, Guns, Regulation, Texas, video | No Comments »

Attorney General Abbott: Austin & Travis County Better Expect “Double-Barreled Lawsuit” Over Gun Show Ban

Tuesday, January 8th, 2013

Over on my Twitter account, I asked Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott about Austin and Travis County’s proposed gun show ban in light of LG.229.

This is what he put up:

If Austin or Travis Co. try to ban gun shows they better be ready for a double-barreled lawsuit.

Now, a Twitter post hardly comes to the level of an official press release from the Attorney General’s office, but it does represent a shot across the bow of Austin and Travis County gun grabbers who think they can flout state law without consequences.

Finally, I must admit that I really dig Abbott’s Twitter background:

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Posted in Austin, Guns, Regulation, Texas | 2 Comments »

Austin Gun Show Ban Update: What Dwight Said

Tuesday, January 8th, 2013

I was going to do an update on the proposed Austin/Travis County gun show ban, but Dwight has already hit the highlights.

Quick tl:dr summary:

  • Travis County Commissioners discussed the ban, but didn’t vote on it.
  • They’re going to have an “executive” (i.e. closed) session with their attorney.
  • Houston tried to pull a similar stunt and ended up paying $50,000+ in legal fees.
  • Dwight has added fax numbers so people from 1987 can voice their displeasure as well.

    • If you live in Travis County, I’d advise you to call, email, and writer your County Commissioner/City Councilman, if you haven’t already.

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    Posted in Austin, Democrats, Guns, Texas | 1 Comment »

    (Austin City Council is) Breaking the Law, Breaking the Law

    Monday, January 7th, 2013

    I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but the SuperGeniuses on the Austin City Council (along with allies among the Travis County apparatchiks) have gotten it into their heads that it’s just a swell idea to ban gun shows within the city and county limits. Because I’m sure so many criminals are buying their guns legally at a gun show. (Hint: NICS is not, in fact, a misspelling of that TV show with the hot Goth chick.)

    Over at Whipped Cream Difficulties, Dwight has taken the bull by the horns, and provided not only a list of reasons why that’s a really bad idea, but a list of contract addresses for City Council critters, allowing those of you who live within the limits of the City of Austin (I don’t) a chance to express your extremely displeasure with this noxious and ill-advised gun-grabbing regulatory gambit.

    Oh wait, did I say noxious and ill-advised? Add to that one more adjective: illegal.

    As Dwight notes, a gun show ban “will expose the city to legal action under section 229 of the Texas local government code.” Let’s take a look at 229, shall we? The relevant portion 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

    Now, I’m not a simple country lawyer (or a simple hyperchicken from a backwoods asteroid, either), but banning gun shows sounds precisely like adopting regulations pertaining to the transfer of guns to me.

    Much smarter than your average Austin City Counci Critter

    They’d have done better listening to this, er, guy.

    It’s like the entire Austin City Council parading through the center of the state capitol wearing KICK ME signs. And the state legislature just might take them up on it.

    On the other hand, if The People’s Republic of Austin is foolish enough to push this through, I’m sure there are venues in Williamson County that would love to have that business…

    (Subject line hat-tip)

    Email and Phone Numbers: Let Them Know What You Think of Their Illegal Gun-Show Banning Ploy

    Thanks to Dwight, here’s some contact information for Travis County officials, who are evidently voting Tuesday:

  • Judge Samuel T. Biscoe (512) 854-9555 Sam.Biscoe@co.travis.tx.us
  • Ron Davis (512) 854-9111 ron.davis@co.travis.tx.us
  • Sarah Eckhardt (512) 854-9222 sarah.eckhardt@co.travis.tx.us
  • Gerald Daugherty (512) 854-9333 Gerald.Daugherty@co.travis.tx.us
  • Margaret Gomez (512) 854-9444 Margaret.Gomez@co.travis.tx.us

    • And Austin City Council Critters:

  • Lee Leffingwell 512-974-2250 lee.leffingwell@ci.austin.tx.us
  • Sheryl Cole 512-974-2266 sheryl.cole@ci.austin.tx.us
  • Chris Riley 512-974-2260 chris.riley@ci.austin.tx.us
  • Mike Martinez 512-974-2264 mike.martinez@ci.austin.tx.us
  • Kathie Tovo 512-974-2255 kathie.tovo@ci.austin.tx.us
  • Laura Morrison 512-974-2258 laura.morrison@ci.austin.tx.us
  • Bill Spelman 512-974-2256 bill.spelman@ci.austin.tx.us

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    Posted in Austin, Crime, Democrats, Guns, Texas | 6 Comments »

    Why I Rejoined the NRA

    Monday, December 31st, 2012

    Back during the Clinton Administration, I joined the National Rifle Association. With the “Assault Weapon Ban” passed and other anti-Second Amendment legislation under consideration, it seemed like a good time to join the one organization capable of slowing the Democratic Party’s gun-grabbing agenda.

    When I let my membership lapse, it was obvious new gun control legislation was going nowhere with George W. Bush in the White House and Republicans controlling the House of Representatives. But the main reason I let it lapse was that I was pissed off that the NRA had sent me a video tape (younger readers: ask your parents what a “video tape” was) I hadn’t asked for, and expected me to go out of the way and return it at my expense if I didn’t want to subscribe to whatever video series it was.

    Over the years I’ve had differences with the NRA, especially their willingness to compromise on other fundamental freedoms by cutting deals with Nancy Pelosi. But as Sebastain at Shall Not Be Questioned noted:

    You still need what NRA can bring to the table, which is specifically a huge network of people who tend to only be peripherally involved in this issue (and this goes beyond their 4 million dues paying members), and access to lawmakers that no other gun rights groups can match, and really no or few other lobbies in DC and the 50 state capitols can match….

    NRA is the only organization that has the capability to fight on this ground. So if you have some money to donate to NRA, or can spare the dollars to buy a membership do it!

    We’re going to war, and this is the NRA we have, and more importantly, this is the NRA we can win with. But only if we hang together, because our alternative is to surely hang separately.

    And that’s why I sent my check in this week to rejoin the NRA. American’s fundamental Second Amendment rights are under siege right now. If you care about maintaining America as a nation whose freedom is guaranteed by its’ citizens inalienable rights, then this is the fight you need to join. It’s a fight we can and should win. The NRA is an integral part of that fight.

    If you care about liberty and the Second Amendment, you should seriously consider joining as well.

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    Posted in Regulation, Uncategorized | 8 Comments »

    More Gun Control Follies Fallout

    Monday, December 24th, 2012

    The tide of “you must enact liberal knee-jerk gun control legislation now!” editorials from the usual suspects in the MSM seems to have ebbed for now, but the fallout from the Sandy Hook spree continues. Here’s a roundup of some of the more interesting and informative

  • You need to read this entire piece by Larry Correia, but this is one of the most important takeaways: “The average number of people shot in a mass shooting event when the shooter is stopped by law enforcement: 14. The average number of people shot in a mass shooting event when the shooter is stopped by civilians: 2.5”
  • Gun-control loving Chicago suffers 3-20 Sandy Hooks this year.
  • Yesterday: Liberals call conservatives “crazy” and “paranoid” for thinking that liberals want to take away their guns. Today: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo calls for mandatory confiscation of certain types of guns. (Hat tip: Alphecca)
  • The number of crimes committed by Texas concealed handgun License (CHL) holders is incredibly small.
  • How small? “Since 1996, when the law took effect, there have been 852,271 convictions of Texans under the 125 gun related offenses prohibited under state law, everything from Class A felonies like murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated rape, to relatively minor offenses like carrying a weapon in a prohibited place. Of those convictions, only 1,972 of them were of individuals who were licensed to carry a concealed handgun at the time of the offense, or roughly .19%.”
  • There’s a Texas school district where teacher’s are armed. Want to guess the number of shootings they’ve had?
  • Stacy McCain asks: “Why should the foolishness of Nancy Lanza and the evil acts of her son automatically impose limitations on people who are neither foolish nor evil?”
  • Why gun control can’t stop spree killings.
  • Some insightful commentary on the NRA from Sebastian: “You go to war with the NRA and the Wayne LaPierre you have, not the NRA and Wayne LaPierre you want. And we are going to war. We are arrayed against the entire left-wing apparatus, and they mean to extract their pint of blood.”
  • Advice on just how to write your congressman. (Hat tip: View from the Porch.)
  • This guy has some serious questions about the media timeline for the Sandy Hook shooting, but then ruins his credibility with 9/11 truther crap. I know that a lot of early reporting on shooting sprees in wrong (for example, almost all initial reports say that “police are looking for a second shooter,” who almost invariably doesn’t exist), but I do remember that all the early reports said the shooter used two handguns, but at some point that switched to all of his spree being conducted with the .223 rifle.

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    Posted in Guns, Regulation, Texas | 1 Comment »

    Suggestion: Offer Texas Enterprise Fund Money to Blue State Gun Manufacturers Who Relocate to Texas

    Thursday, December 20th, 2012

    I’m not a fan of the Texas Enterprise Fund, because I don’t think government should be picking economic winners and losers; let them succeed or fail on their own merits rather than getting a boost from the Aristocracy of Pull. Some liberal critics have accused the Enterprise Fund of being Rick Perry’s slush fund for donors, but in truth all federal business subsidies are slush funds, and I think the Texas Enterprise Fund is markedly less corrupt than the Obama Administration’s green energy pork for contributors, or its $25 billion Government Motors bailout gift to the United Auto Workers.

    Given that the Texas Enterprise Fund does exit, I can think of at least one good use for it: Helping gun manufacturers relocate from Blue States to Texas.

    After all, it’s obvious that Blue State sentiment is running (at least right now) against legal gun ownership by law-abiding Americans, and that pressure (legal and otherwise) will be brought to bear on them to stop manufacturing certain types of perfectly legal weapons, or to cease business entirely.

    So why not invite them to relocate to Texas? We have a skilled and highly educated non-union workforce, a broad and deep manufacturing base, a thriving economy, a culture that appreciates firearms ownership and their place in American history, stautory protection against frivolous lawsuits against firearms manufacturers, and no state income tax. While it’s a pain in the ass to move a manufacturing facility, doing so now could both increase a firearms manufacturer’s profit and prevent political pressure and legal harassment further down the line.

    Companies that might be targeted include:

  • Colt Firearms of Connecticut
  • Kimber Manufacturing of New York
  • Smith & Wesson of Massachusetts
  • Springfield Armory in Illinois

    • Among many, many others.

    Texas could gain millions of dollars worth of economic boost at the expense of state that don’t appreciate firearms manufacturers anyway.

    Worth considering.

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    Posted in Guns, Obama Scandals, Texas | 3 Comments »

    Democrats Can’t Help Wanting to Ban Guns. It’s What They Do.

    Tuesday, December 18th, 2012

    Like a foolish dog returning to eat its own sick, liberals can’t stay away from expressing their long pent-up desire to disarm law-abiding Americans. Their central governing principle is to give more money and power to the federal government (or the UN, when they can get away with it), and independent gun owners stand in their way. The Sandy Hook shooting victims weren’t even in the ground before Democratic lawmakers were calling on Obama to “exploit” (their words) the tragedy to push for more gun control.

    Liberals seem to regard guns like Sauron’s One Ring: as an evil object of magical power that automatically warps and corrupts the user. Frequently, they also seem to see people disagreeing with them as a sign of mental illness. (Check Twitter for how many call 2nd Amendment activists “sick” or “insane.”) I suspect that makes it harder for them to recognize real mental illness. And when they say they want a “dialog” over guns, what they really mean is “Shut up and hand over your guns and I’ll temporarily stop calling you deranged, bloodthirsty killers.”

    When the plan to deter gun use by the criminal and insane starts out “Step 1: Disarm the Sane and Law-Abiding,” I think I see a flaw in their brilliant scheme. It’s as if there were a rash of food poisonings from unlicensed food carts, and the liberal solution was to ban an all food carts.

    Two years ago I said that when push comes to shove, there’s no such thing as a pro-gun Democrat, and this week West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is the prime example, “A” rating from the NRA notwithstanding. Expect any pro-gun Democrats to either undergo a mysterious conversion to the gun-grabbing cause, or get pushed out of the party, just like nominally “pro-life Democrats” either caved (Bart Stupak and his bloc) or were pushed out (pretty much every national election over the last 20 years).

    Other Sandy Hook shooting fallout:

  • David Kopel notes that “Today, Americans are safer from violent crime, including gun homicide, than they have been at any time since the mid-1960s.” (Kopel is author of The Samurai, the Mountie, and the Cowboy, which I recommend for anyone serious about looking at both sides of the debate over gun control.)
  • Remember that the problem of random mass murder is not a new one. “Mass murder was just as common during the 1920s and 30s as it has been since the mid-1960s.”
  • It’s hard to tell from the media reports, but the .223 Bushmaster reportedly used by shooter Adam Lanza does not appear to have any of the cosmetic features covered by the Clinton-era “assault weapons” ban (i.e., any two of a folding stock, pistol grip, bayonet mount, barrel shroud or flash suppressor). Therefore it’s not an “assault weapon.” (The liberal definition of an “assault weapon” is “any gun that looks scary.”)
  • And the result of the Clinton “assault weapon” ban? As per Clayton E. Cramer, “he policy has been tried and found wanting.”
  • Every single recent mass killing save one has taken place in a “gun free” zone.
  • John Lott, author of the essential More Guns, Less Crime, says that we should arm teachers and ban “gun free zones.”
  • Notice how the repeated failure of gun control is always used as the justification for more gun control? Which is pretty much liberal policy on every issue (welfare spending, regulation, etc.) in a nutshell.
  • The record of gun control in reducing crime in other countries is also generally one of failure as well.
  • Here in Austin, the owner of Thai Noodle House (probably the worst Thai restaurant in town) declared that “I don’t care if a bunch of white kids got killed.” Strangely enough this did not win him many friends, and the restaurant is currently closed.
  • For still another view of the problem, read “I Am Adam Lanza’s Mother,” probably the most passed-around article in the blogsphere and Twitter this week.

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    Posted in Crime, Democrats, Guns | 2 Comments »

    Firearm Releated Homicides Have Declined for Five Straight Years

    Saturday, December 15th, 2012

    So sayeth the FBI.

  • 2007: 10,129 Firearm Homicides
  • 2008: 9,528 Firearm Homicides
  • 2009: 9,199 Firearm Homicides
  • 2010: 8,874 Firearm Homicides
  • 2011: 8,583 Firearm Homicides

    • They may have declined for longer than that, but the table only goes back to 2007, and the 2012 data period obviously hasn’t ended yet.

    Between concealed carry laws and DC. vs. Heller, more law-abiding citizens are carrying guns than ever before, but gun violence isn’t up, it’s down.

    I guess John Lott was right.

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    Posted in Crime, Guns | No Comments »

    LinkSwarm for 12/14/12

    Friday, December 14th, 2012

    A quick LinkSwarm for a Friday night:

  • Ever notice how after every killing spree, liberals are quick to proclaim that no one needs an “assault rifle” for self defense? Well, this guy did, facing three armed assailants breaking in, and is still alive because of it.
  • There are a number of spree killers who have racked up high death tolls without using a gun. Or using a gun obtained illegally in a country where they’re banned.
  • Dear Senior Citizens: union jobs are more sacred than your very lives. Signed, a Democratic Judge.
  • I’m shocked, shocked to find out that the SEIU committed vote fraud during the Wisconsin recall election.
  • In Montreal, it’s not enough for you to be bilingual. Your dog has to be as well.

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    Posted in Crime, unions | No Comments »

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