Tag: Gun Rights

Bloomberg’s Traveling Circus to Visit Minneapolis Tomorrow

It was brought to my attention that Michael Bloomberg’s touring circus will be in Minneapolis tomorrow:

Inspired by the Newtown school shooting, a touring national gun-control campaign endorsed by the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul stops Wednesday in downtown Minneapolis for a rally outside the federal courthouse.

Gun rights advocates are spreading the word and reviewing the legalities of showing up with their firearms.

The “No More Names” rally gets underway at 10 a.m. at the courthouse plaza at 300 S. 4th St. The signature event during the rally is when participants read the names of gun violence victims since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in December in Newtown, Conn.

The six-week-old tour is organized by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a bipartisan coalition of more than 1,000 mayors that says it is the largest gun violence prevention advocacy group in the country.

I’m sure this will be the standard affair. Bloomberg’s posse will arrive, the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul will give some speeches about the dangers of gun violence, and the mayors will duck out and the truck with cruise off before any questions can be fielded. Apparently some gun owners are planning a counter-protests:

A Twin Cities gun-ownership group is advising any of its members who might attend the rally to “be peaceful and respectful” but to also “be recognizable as opposing Bloomberg’s rights-stripping, criminal mayors’ organization with clothing, hats, and/or signage.”

On its Facebook page, the Twin Cities Gun Owners & Carry Forum cautions its supporters to “watch for agitators and don’t take the bait.”

I’m not planning to attend since I have better things to do than give the time of day to a group of exploitative vultures. For those of you planning to attend I encourage you to dress professionally and speak intelligently. While the various local news organizations will happily air somebody dressed slovenly, especially if they also speak unintelligibly, they probably won’t air anybody dressed nicely, especially if they speak intelligently. When given the option between looking like a fool or being ignored it’s best to take the latter. Or you can ignore the whole circus since it’s organizers are irrelevant and undeserving of our attention.

The State Fails to Stop the Signal

Earlier this year the United States government attempt to suppress Computer-Aided Design (CAD) models for 3D printable firearms from being distributed by placing them under the control of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). By bringing ITAR into the equation the state was able to label those CAD models as munitions and prevent them from being legally exported from the country. Since those CAD models are under ITAR regulations I’m completely baffled by this story:

Less than two months after the debut of the first almost entirely 3D-printed handgun, a Canadian gunsmith has created the first 3D printed rifle.

The gun maker, who goes by the online handle CanadianGunNut, is an active user on DEFCAD, the primary online forum for 3D-printed firearms.

Doesn’t he know that the idea for 3D printable firearms originated in the United States and it is therefore illegal to export that idea, now that it has been labeled a munition, to his native country of Canada?

Information control, like gun control, is a foolhardy dream that can never be realized. Throughout our history handfuls of individuals have attempted to suppress information they believed to be harmful but failed as other individuals discovered more effective ways to disseminate information. 3D printable firearms are in their infancy but this will change as 3D printer technology improves and becomes more widely available to the masses. Eventually we will be able to print off firearms that are every bit as good as, or better than, currently manufactured firearms. Now that the state is in a position where it has to stifle both information and physical firearms its goal is completely unattainable.

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

Since Mark Dayton vetoed the legislation that would have brought “stand your ground” to Minnesota, it’s not surprise to see him attempt to justify his political position by shoehorning “stand your ground” into the Zimmerman case:

He commented on the acquittal last weekend of George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed the 17-year-old Martin in Sanford, Fla., in February of 2012. Florida has a law similar to the one Dayton vetoed, although it is not clear that it figured into Zimmerman’s successful claim of self-defense.

“Whether we agree or disagree with the decision, we have to carry on,” Dayton said, in his first comments on the case. “We have to learn from the mistakes of the past — learn that these kinds of laws that are supposedly empowering citizen vigilantes to take matters in their own hands have catastrophic effects.”

Of course, as pointed out by Andrew Branca at Legal Insurrection, the Zimmerman case had nothing to do with Florida’s “stand your ground” law:

Traditionally, it was required that you take advantage of a safe avenue of retreat, if such was reasonably available to you, before using deadly force in self-defense. This was what is referred to as a generalized duty to retreat. It always had exceptions, such as the Castle Doctrine which lifts the duty when you are in your home.

The “stand-your-ground” law expands the scope of the Castle Doctrine beyond your home to every place you have a right to be. So, even if there were a safe avenue of retreat reasonably available to you, you no longer have a legal duty to attempt to make use of it before using deadly force in self-defense.

The duty to retreat itself, however, only applies where safe retreat is possible. If there is no safe avenue of retreat, there is no duty. If there is no duty, the “stand-your-ground” statute that relieves you of that duty is irrelevant.

This was this situation in the Zimmerman case. When George Zimmerman made the decision to use deadly force in self-defense he had already been trying to escape for at least the 45 seconds he was screaming for help and getting his head smashed into a sidewalk. There simply was no reasonably safe avenue of retreat available to him. Therefore he had no duty to retreat, and without any such duty “stand-your-ground” has no role to play in lifting that duty.

The claim that Zimmerman got off because of Florida’s “stand your ground” law is incorrect. Zimmerman deployed deadly force only after he was pinned to the ground. Since he had no avenue of retreat he could legally use deadly force in self-defense regardless if the statute existed or not.

Sadly, the myth that Zimmerman’s verdict was determined by “stand your ground” legislation is unlikely to die, especially when you have governors like Mark Dayton perpetuating the lie.

Do it Yourself Glock

Have you ever thought to yourself, “Man, I really want a Glock but I don’t want to register a firearm.” Fear not, the same man who brought up an AK receiver fabricated from an old shovel has now posed instructions for building a Glock frame out of scrap metal pieces.

Have I mentioned the fact that gun control is dead?

Adam Kokesh Arrested Again

Adam Kokesh is an interesting man. First he calls for an armed march on Washington DC, then he cancels it, then he went anyways. While he was rather inconsistent about the entire march I must admit that he has brass balls for venturing into the city of the damned with a gun in defiance of the law. Not surprisingly, he was arrested:

Police searched the Northern Virginia home of libertarian activist Adam Kokesh Tuesday evening and took him into custody, according to a news release posted on Kokesh’s Web site.

Kokesh, a former Marine, was held overnight at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, charged with possession of schedule I and II drugs while in possession of a firearm, said Lt. Steve Elbert, a spokesman for the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office. No additional details were immediately available.

The search warrant was served by U.S. Park Police, a federal agency that is responsible for policing Freedom Plaza, the concrete park on Pennsylvania Avenue NW where in a video Kokesh appears to load a shotgun, in violation of D.C. gun laws.

Kokesh’s arrest demonstrates that rules are for thee, not for me. When David Gregory illegally possessed a standard capacity AR-15 magazine on national television he go off scot free because he was promoting the statist agenda. Meanwhile Adam Kokesh illegally possessed a shotgun and was arrested because he wasn’t promoting the statist agenda.

What Kokesh’s arrest really demonstrates is how arbitrarily laws are enforced in Washington DC. If you’re being an obedience serf you can get away with breaking the law but if you’re being a disobedience rabble-rouser you will be kidnapped and locked in a cage.

The Danger of Databases

Gun control advocates often find gun owners’ opposition to databases irrational. In the minds of gun control advocates a database of gun owners, or at least people prohibited from owning firearms, is a good idea because it can decrease the proliferation of firearms in society. They are generally unconcerned with possibilities of abuse because in their eyes the state is a benevolent entity that obediently serves the people (unless it reduces the number of restrictions on gun ownership, then they believe it is an evil monster controlled by the National Rifle Association).

Gun owners realize those assumptions are incorrect. Databases do nothing to decrease the proliferation of firearms in society because individuals with enough interest in acquiring firearms will find a way to do so in a manner that bypasses any databases. Furthermore, gun owners realize that databases in the state’s hands will be abused:

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s billed by the FBI as “the lifeline of law enforcement” — a federal database used to catch criminals, recover stolen property and even identify terrorism suspects.

But authorities say Edwin Vargas logged onto the restricted system and ran names for reasons that had nothing to do with his duties as a New York Police Department detective. Instead, he was accused in May of looking up personal information on two fellow officers without their knowledge.

[…]

NYPD recruits are warned that “if you misuse or you access information in an inappropriate manner … you are in serious trouble — such as being prosecuted, being fired and also big fines,” a police academy instructor testified at the trial of Gilbert Valle, who was convicted in March in a bizarre plot to kidnap, cook and cannibalize women.

In addition, an FBI compliance unit conducts spot audits to examine users’ “policies, procedures, and security requirements,” the FBI said in a statement. The FBI also requires each state to have its own audit programs and claims that “malicious misuse is not commonly discovered.”

But both the instructor testifying at the Valle trial and an Internal Affairs Bureau investigator who took the witness stand in an earlier case have conceded that officers can easily circumvent safeguards.

Databases will always, I repeat always, be abused by the state.

Eris is Calling on Gun Owners with Android Devices

Fellow gun owners, the goddess of chaos, Eris, is calling on all of us with Android devices. Advocates of gun control have released an app titled Gun Geo Marker. The app was created with the intent of marking the locations of gun owners for unknown reasons (although vigilante justice against gun owners is a likely reason). Eris asks us to spread discord by fill the Gun Geo Marker database with information. Andrew, who brought this app to my attention via Facebook, gave the excellent suggestion of marking every police station. I would suggest marking every public spot since it’s likely a person with a concealed firearm has entered those locations at one time or another. If the homes of various gun control advocates managed to find their way into the Gun Geo Marker database the goddess Eris would be pleased.

Now go forth wonderful agents of chaos and do the goddess’s work!

Closed to the Public

Advocates of gun control are becoming more cult-like every day. A common feature of cults is to cut members off from outsiders. This helps prevent unwanted influences from convincing cult members to leave the cult. Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona congresswoman who was shot in the head, decided to visit Raleigh, North Carolina to promote gun control. What makes her visit notable is this little tidbit:

Giffords and Kelly discussed ways that they say increased gun controls can coexist with the Second Amendment and the right of Americans to own guns. The event was not open to the public and was organized by Americans for Responsible Solutions.

Emphasis mine. In order to prevent dissenting opinions from messing up Gifford’s message outsiders weren’t allowed to attend. This separation was probably necessary to prevent members of Americans for Responsible Solutions from straying. It’s difficult to retain members when the entire platform your organization exists to promote is both an oxymoron and entirely impossible to achieve.

Lying, It’s What People with No Argument Resort To

Gun control advocates generally aren’t the most honest individuals. Since most of the prophecies they’ve made in the past have failed to manifest they have become more reliant on outright fabrications to support their holy crusade. Sometimes these lies come in the form of manipulated statistics and other times they come in the form of misrepresenting current firearm laws. This is an example of the latter:

One of Connecticut’s gun manufacturers, PTR Industries, is departing the state in a melodramatic huff for gun-friendly South Carolina, complaining about the tightened gun safety laws enacted in Hartford by conscience-stricken legislators following the Newtown massacre.

The sad truth, of course, is that PTR Industries and the rest of the gun industry have absolutely nothing to fear from Connecticut’s tougher controls on military-style assault rifles and large-scale bullet magazines. That’s because in 2005, Congress and President George W. Bush, in shameless obeisance to the gun lobby, immunized arms manufacturers from damage suits by gunshot victims. The gun lobby had sought this protection after relatives of the eight sniper victims in Washington, D.C., won $2.5 million in damages from a rifle manufacturer.

This outrageous law, called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, can only be envied by other industries whose products might affect public safety.

From an editorial in the New York Times

If you read the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) you’ll note that it protects gun manufacturers from civil liability actions. In laymen’s terms the law prevents somebody who injured themselves with a firearm through negligence or was injured by a criminal using a firearm from bringing a civil liability lawsuit against the gun manufacturer. What the law doesn’t do is immunize gun manufacturers from local prohibitions. If a state passed a law that prohibited the manufacture of standard capacity magazines a manufacturer manufacturing standard capacity magazines could still be brought up on charges.

Implying that firearm manufacturers are immune from all laws because of the PLCAA is a lie, plain and simple.

Civil Disobedience is Beautiful

I have to hand it to Colorado gun owners, they aren’t going quietly into the night. Magpul was giving away magazines and gun owners decided to hold a magazine swap at the Colorado Capital:

DENVER – Gun rights advocates held an ammunition magazine swap at the state Capitol in Denver on Monday to defy a new state law.

During the “Magazine Swap at the Capitol,” activists urged people from Colorado and surrounding areas to buy, sell and swap magazines that hold more than 15 rounds.

[…]

More than 50 people attended the protest event at the Capitol with many passing ammunition magazines around a circle of people.

Civil disobedience is a wonderful thing. From what I can find it appears that no arrests were made during the event, which really goes to show just how toothless the new prohibition is. More swaps like this should be held and people from surrounding states that can still purchase standard capacity magazines should attend in droves.