Tag: Gun Rights

It’s Almost as if Banning Something Doesn’t Work

Ah the United Kingdom (UK), often referred to as Brady Paradise around these parts. There is all but a complete ban on firearms in portions of the UK which is claimed to be for your protection. What the UK government doesn’t seem to realize is simply making something illegal doesn’t actually prevent people from obtaining it. Case in point it seems officers are investigating firearms smuggled into their fine country:

Weapons smuggled into the UK from the US in hold luggage are being hunted by police, it has been revealed.

American Steven Greenoe, 37, is being held in the US accused of smuggling 60 guns into the UK, including Glock and Ruger 9mm pistols.

Police fear many were sold on to criminal gangs in north-west England.

It’s almost as if there is no magical force preventing the smuggling of firearms. My God it seems as though the only thing banning guns does is prevent law abiding citizens from defending themselves against criminals who obtain guns regardless of laws and regulations. The case does bring two other realizations to light though (that everybody reading this site already knew):

Writing in The Times, he said: “This makes a mockery of the stringent checks we all endure at US airports, such as removing our shoes and belts, having our toothpaste confiscated and all the other irritants.

“Steven Greenoe’s guns could just have easily been bombs.”

Holy shit it seems airport security is really just secure theater. NO WAY!

I Can’t Agree With the NRA on This

Most of the time I don’t have a lot of problems with the actions of the National Rifle Association (NRA) but this new piece of Florida legislation they’re backing is pure shit. The bills are S.B. 432 and H.B. 155

What the bills would do if passed is make it a felony for a medical practitioner to ask about your firearms or record information about your status as a gun owner:

(2)(a) A person who violates this section commits a felony of the third degree, punishable, except as provided in paragraph (b), as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

(b) A person who violates this section may be assessed a fine of not more than $5 million if the court determines that the person knew or reasonably should have known that the conduct was unlawful.

I’m completely against doctors asking if you own firearms but you know what? If they ask you can flat out tell them it’s none of their business. They can’t legally force you to tell them if you own firearms. On top of that making it a fucking felony, a charge that will revoke said doctor’s own second amendment rights, is insane. Here’s my solution to this problem, if your doctor is asking you question about your personal life that you don’t want to answer then don’t answer. If said doctor continues to inquire find a new doctor.

Likewise the bill also mentions medical personnel making records of whether or not you have firearms in your household. I agree that shouldn’t be happening but making it a fucking felony is overboard to say the least. You know what a good solution to this would be? Check your medical records periodically and if any mention of your status as a firearm owner appears go to another doctor and maybe even bring a civil suite against your doctor for recording non-medical related information. This is bad legislation plain and simple and I wish the NRA would stop promoting it. Punishments should fit the crime and revoking somebody’s right to bear arms or even vote because they recorded information they shouldn’t have is going a bit far.

Now if we want to make a law against government inquiring about your status as a gun owner or recording any information about your status as a firearm owner I’ll back that 100%.

Why We Need to Defund NPR

I’m sure I’ll get flak for this one, I always do. It seems there is an unjustifiable love for National Public Radio (NPR) around my circle of friends any I get nothing by hatred every time I state we shouldn’t be giving tax money to the organization (then I again I also get the same flak when I say we should abolish Social Security, Medicare, and Medicade). Well the gloves are off because I found a prime example of why NPR should receive no public funding. What is that example? Well they have an agenda, are not neutral, and are trying to silence an entire movement based around a right. This is a letter received by several gun bloggers inviting them to be a guest speaker on an NPR debate:

Dear Mr. Farago:

I work for the NPR program On Point with Tom Ashbrook and I’m writing to ask if any of thetruthaboutguns.com‘s contributors would be able to speak as a guest on Monday, January 17. We’re looking for a gun owner and 2nd Amendment supporter who is not opposed to the forthcoming McCarthy bill re: magazine capacity. While I realize that this doesn’t describe you personally, I’d be very grateful if you could put me in touch with a contributor or any other gun owner who would not oppose this bill. Let me know if anyone comes to mind. Thanks very much. [email srosen@wbur.org]

Best,
Matthew Baskin

First NPR is asking the impossible, you can’t support the second amendment and not oppose a gun control law. Second they’re completely silencing those who oppose McCarthy’s bill. Make no mistake here, NPR is not neutral and they are against your right to keep and bear arms. I don’t know where people developed the idea that NPR is a neutral entity because they receive government funding which means they’re most likely going to tow the statist line so they can continue receiving funding.

I doubt you’ll ever see an NPR special on the evils of big government or a show advocating for nullification of unjust laws. They aren’t going to bite the hand that feeds them.

I Am TJIC

I’m sure everybody reading this already knows who TJIC is. If not he’s a blogger who has the unfortunate combination of living in Massachusetts and being against the government. Because of this unfortunate combination he lost is second amendment right because he exercised his first amendment right:

A blog threatening members of Congress in the wake of the Tucson, Arizona shooting has prompted Arlington police to temporarily suspend the firearms license of an Arlington man.

It was the headline “1 down and 534 to go” that caught the attention. “One” refers to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head in the rampage, while 534 refers to the other members of the U.S. House and Senate.

Was the post distasteful? Yes. Was the post inflammatory? Yes. Was the post overall in poor taste? Yes again. Was the post protected speech under the first amendment? Yes. That last yes makes every other yes irrelevant.

Likewise TJIC didn’t threaten anybody. No specific names are mentioned just a general clause that states he doesn’t like politicians. This would be akin to tossing the writers of Mars Attacks! in prison because their movie depicted both congress and the President being killed by the martians. Now I badmouth politicians all the time and have made many remarks about horrible things we should do to them but it’s talk, speech, and satire (mostly).

But this event demonstrates the fact that we are not free people in this country. Sure some of us are more free than others depending on where you live but ultimately we’re all peasants at the mercy of our rulers in government. They seem willing to leave us mostly alone so long as we don’t criticize them while they make our lives even more restricted each day and steal more and more of our money. The second we cross them though, the second we criticize an illegal war, the second we speak against them we’re given labels such as terrorist, communist, and of course unpatriotic. Our rulers in government has passed laws that allow them to use their monopoly on the use of force to arrest, torture, and even murder people with these arbitrary labels.

So yes I will join this meme going around the gun blogs and say I to am TJIC. I am a man who disagrees with the government and has openly stated as such. If our government would respect the very laws put into place to keep them in line this entire post would be unnecessary. But this post is necessary because we are not free people and our government doesn’t respect the restrictions that were put into place during the founding of this country.

Potential Addition to Banned Shotguns in the Works

Via Snowflakes in Hell I learned that everybody’s favorite agency of overreached government authority is up to its old tricks against. The Bureau of Everything Fun Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is going to issue new rules regarding shotguns:

Today, the ATF announced at the 2011 SHOT Show that a new ruling would be issued on Monday, January 24, 2011, regarding the importability of certain shotguns. ATF informed the audience at the ATF Townhall meeting that they wanted to ensure that they were properly and justly enforcing the requirements of a shotgun being for a “sporting purpose.”

What does this mean? Most likely that future importation of popular sporting shotguns such as the Saiga AK-based shotgun will become verboten. Although it’s a very popular three gun shotgun the ATF will completely ignore that fact I’m sure. Basically the Saiga has the bad fortune of being an awesome shotgun that accepts magazines that hold more shot shells than is politically accepted.

ATF ruling on shotguns is also the reason the SPAS-12 became illegal to import because it served no “sporting purpose” (even though I’ve used mine to shoot clays several times now). The worst part about this whole situation is the people don’t get a say, the ATF has the authority to do pretty much whatever the fuck they please and we slaves can just shut up and like it. Well we can shut up and like it or work to abolish the ATF. Personally I’m down with the second option.

The Need for 30 Round Magazines

For those anti-gunners who keep asking, “Why do you need 30 round magazines” Alan over at SnarkyBytes has your answer:

I have a machine gun that fires 1400 rounds a minute. It can empty a 30 round magazine in less than two seconds. It would empty a ten round magazine in less than half a second.

Also rights have nothing to do with needs. I have a right to keep and bear arms, it shall not be infringed, and there is nowhere in the Constitution that declares any authorization for any restriction to that right. If you can’t get that simple concept through your head then I fear for you, I fear you will forget something really important like how to breathe.

Right to Carry Law Moving in Wyoming

It seems Wyoming is destined to be the next state that “gives” its citizens the right to carry a concealed firearm. The Wyoming Senate committee gave their recommendation on approval at the right to carry bill. It’s nice to see logic can find hold in some places:

Matthew J. Huntington, a Cheyenne-based “freedom lobbyist,” told the committee that an armed citizen was at the scene in Tucson and ready to shoot to stop the violence. The gunman responsible for the shooting was tackled before the armed citizen could act.

“If that tackling didn’t happen, and the shooter loaded that second magazine and continued, that gentleman who was legally carrying would have been able to stop the threat at that point in time,” Huntington said. “The overall point is that when you make it easier for legally armed citizens to carry guns, you make it harder for bad guys to commit violent crime.”

Of course one of “the only ones” doesn’t like the idea and spouts hypothetical situations that haven’t been a problem in Vermont, Alaska, or Arizona so far:

Casper Police Chief Tom Pagel told the committee that any change to the state’s existing concealed carry system demands careful consideration.

Pagel said more than 21,000 people in Wyoming already have state concealed-carry permits. He said only 1 or 2 percent of applications result in denials.

“Where I see the potential risk to this is citizen to citizen,” Pagel said. “Something that might be a fight will end up with gunplay.”

Being the three states with right to carry laws in place don’t have any issue I think we can all just drop this “blood in the streets” argument.

California AB962 Struck Down

For the first time in a long time some good news as emerged from California. The law passed last year that would have made it illegal to mail order ammunition in the state of California has been struck down in the Fresno Superior Court:

The law, passed last year as AB 962, would have banned mail order ammunition sales and required all purchases of so called “handgun ammunition” to be registered. In an unwritten ruling from the bench, Judge Jeffrey Hamilton found the law unconstitutionally vague on its face and issued an injunction against its enforcement. For now, at least, mail order ammunition sales to California residents can continue, and ammunition sales need not be registered under the law.

The lawsuit—funded by the National Rifle Association and the California Rifle and Pistol (CRPA) Foundation as part of a joint Legal Action Project—was prompted in part by the many objections and questions raised by confused police, ammunition purchasers, and sellers about what ammunition is covered by the new law. Plaintiffs in the case include Tehama County Sheriff Clay Parker, the CRPA Foundation, Herb Bauer Sporting Goods, ammunition shipper Able’s Ammo, collectible ammunition shipper RTG Sporting Collectibles, and individual Steven Stonecipher. Mendocino Sheriff Tom Allman also supported the lawsuit.

Being California is about as tyrannical of a state as you can get you can bet money this will be appealed. Still score yet another one for the good guys.

Wisconsin Carry

I’ve found some good news via Says Uncle for those of you living in the state east from mine. It seems Illinois will be the last state in the union that disallows any form of carry a concealed handgun as Wisconsin is planning on passing carry legislation:

Wisconsin, one of two states in the nation that prohibits citizens from carrying a concealed weapon, is expected to reverse this law during the upcoming state legislative session, according to a local newspaper.

Only Illinois and Wisconsin forbid carrying concealed weapons. A Republican was elected governor and Republicans won majorities in both houses of the Wisconsin legislature in November, bringing many more supporters of gun rights to the state government.

“You’re going to see a concealed carry bill pass the Legislature, I have no doubt,” Chris Danou, a Democratic legislator from Trempealeau, Wisconsin, told the LaCrosse Tribune newspaper. “The question is what kind of bill it’s going to be.”

Personally I can’t wait. I’m also hoping for reciprocity with Minnesota since Wisconsin is a state I visit with some semblance of frequency and really hate the fact I can’t carry there. It looks like Illinois will be the last holdout for allowing citizens a means of legal self defense.

Ron Paul on Gun Control and Violence

It’s no secret around here that I really hate politicians. I do have an exception to that rule and that exception is Ron Paul because he actually makes sense. He posted a very good writeup on his site about the recent surge in demand for more gun control. I think this sums things up very nicely:

Also troubling are the renewed calls for stricter gun control laws, and for government to “do something” to somehow prevent similar incidents in the future. This always seems to be the knee jerk reaction to any crime committed with a gun. Nonsensical proposals to outlaw guns around federal officials and install bulletproof barriers in the congressional gallery only reinforce the growing perception that politicians view their own lives as far more important than the lives of ordinary citizens. Politicians and a complicit media have conditioned many citizens to view government as our protector, leading to more demands for government action whenever tragedies occur. But this impulse is at odds with the best American traditions of self-reliance and individualism, and it also leads to bad laws and the loss of liberty.

Remember our government officials are like you and me only better.