Month: January 2013

Fiscal Cliff Deal Increases Government Spending

If you’ve been following the latest episode of Politics: The Reality Television Show for Suckers you’ve likely heard that Congress has agreed to a deal to avert this country’s falling off of the so-called fiscal cliff. We’re lead to believe that the deal included tax increases and spending cuts the truth, as usual, is different than the propaganda we’re being fed. While the deal does include tax increases it doesn’t include spending cuts. In fact the deal includes spending increases:

The “fiscal cliff” deal that was designed to save money actually includes $330.3 billion in new spending over the next decade, according to the official estimate the Congressional Budget Office released Tuesday afternoon.

CBO said the bill contains about $25.1 billion in new cuts, but those are swamped by the new spending on extended unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless and other new refundable tax credits that President Obama fought for.

Of those cuts, only $2 billion are scheduled to take effect in 2013.

I doubt anybody expected otherwise. The state is a machine to enact wealth redistribution. It expropriates wealth from the general populace and gives it to those who wield political power. This is why we’ll likely never see any real tax cuts or spending decreases. Tax cuts would really mean a reduction of the rate of expropriation and spending cuts would really mean a decrease in the money transfered from the general populace to those with political power. In other words tax cuts and spending decreases are the antithesis of the state and therefore almost impossible to attain through political means. When this so-called fiscal cliff deal is over you can be assured that more wealth will be stolen from you and me and more money will be give to those with political influence. This entire fiscal cliff nonsense is nothing more than a production put on by the state in order to get the people to agree to having more of their wealth stolen.

Firearm Laws in Minnesota

Firearm laws are often confusing. In fact many of the laws are so confusing that state officials fail to understand them. Via the January 2013 Oakdale Gun Club newsletter I was made aware of a guide [PDF] put out by the Research Department of the Minnesota House of Representatives that covers Minnesota’s gun laws. I haven’t had a chance to read the entire document but it may be of interest to Minnesota gunnies, especially those who are new to the shooting sports and those who haven’t research applicable laws to much extent.

Building an AR Lower from Bolted Together Flat Pieces of Metal

While manufacturing an AR lower on a computer numeric control (CnC) machine is possible most people still lack a CnC machine. Fortunately Zerg539 alerted me to a forum post detailing how an AR lower can be manufactured from bolted together flat pieces of metal, which can be done with tools that are more commonly available than CnC machines. Detailed blueprints can be found here [PDF].

Blueprints like this make implementing Plan B even easier. Decentralized manufacturers could pull together the tools necessary to cut and drill flat pieces of metal easier than they could pull together resources to acquire a CnC machine. Furthermore the tooling for an AR lower build from flat pieces of metal could be spread out between multiple locations which would make shutting down a manufacturing ring even more difficult. I believe manufacturing an AR from flat pieces of metal would also be much cheaper and therefore AR pattern rifles could be made even more readily available to those with few funds.

So Begins the War in Illinois

It looks like the politicians in Illinois are planning to go for the throats of gun owners. Shall Not Be Questioned notified their readers that the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) sent out an alert detailing the dastardly deeds of their state’s politicians:

The ISRA has learned from a credible source that Illinois Senate President John Cullerton will introduce a so called “assault weapons” ban on Wednesday when the legislature returns for its “lame duck” session. Cullerton hopes to ramrod the bill through and get it to Governor Quinn for signature by Friday. If he is successful at doing so, nearly every gun you currently own will be banned and will be subject to confiscation by the Illinois State Police.

Based on what we know about Cullerton’s bill, firearms that would be banned include all semiautomatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns. Pump action shotguns would be banned as well. This would be a very comprehensive ban that would include not only so-called “assault weapons” but also such classics as M1 Garands and 1911-based pistols. There would be no exemptions and no grandfathering. You would have a very short window to turn in your guns to the State Police to avoid prosecution.

This is a rather bold move, especially after an Illinois federal appeals court ruled that the state’s prohibition against all form of carry was unconstitutional. Although such a law is unlikely to hold up in court its passage could cause Illinois gun owners a great deal of misery since a majority of their firearms would be deemed illegal until the law itself was ruled unlawful. This could be a very interesting fight to witness.