Chronicling the depravities of the State.
When you’re a lawyer fighting for the rights of the people it seems you’ll never get paid. Alan Gura, who fought for us in both Heller vs. District of Columbia and McDonald vs. Chicago still hasn’t gotten paid for the first case.
Meanwhile the government has paid $140,000 to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Lawful Self-Defense for stomping all over our rights.
Gee can you tell what side our government is on? It sure as the Hell isn’t ours.
There is a bill being proposed in South Dakota that would required every male above the age of 21 to purchase a firearm. They proposal is being used to make a statement against the Health Insurance Company Enrichment Act:
“Do I or the other cosponsors believe that the State of South Dakota can require citizens to buy firearms? Of course not. But at the same time, we do not believe the federal government can order every citizen to buy health insurance,” he said.
Using legislation to make a statement about legislation is a dangerous game that I can’t condone. First of all requiring everybody to purchase a firearm is just as bad as barring people from purchasing firearms. A right doesn’t require mandatory participation, if you wish to stay silent you may even though you have a right to free speech. A right simply means the option to exercise it is there should you chose to.
Many gun nuts are stating the point of this proposal is a good thing. I have a problem with it simply because legislation has been known to pass even though nobody thought it would go anywhere. Anytime a proposal on a new law is made it opens up the door for the proposal to become law.
I respect the idea being brought forth (the government can’t force you to buy something) but I don’t like the method being used in this case.
I’m all for peaceful revolutions and protests but also realize that if the demands of the people aren’t met at some point a peaceful revolution will turn to violence. Sadly the time has come for Egypt as their dictator refused to stand down. Sure Mubarak promised not to run for re-election (Egypt does have “elections” but anybody who has ran against Mubarak has found themselves in prison on trumped up charges). The problem is the people wanted one thing and one thing only, Mubarak to get the fuck out.
Now there is fighting between “supporters” of Mubarak (it wouldn’t surprise me if we learn ten years from now that our own CIA started up the pro-Mubarak movement, they’ve done this shit plenty of times before) and those demanding his immediate resignation. Thankfully at the time of this writing it seems Egypt’s military is just staying the fuck out of it. I hope the people demanding Mubarak to step down win in the end but that’s mostly because I’m one of those crazy freedom loving libertarians who despises dictators of all forms.
Get your e-mail client of choice ready because the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has opened up the floor for comments on their latest shotgun “study.” I think it’s appropriate to remind them that three gun is a sport (and that their assholes but I digress):
You can comment on the report by e-mail to shotgunstudy@atf.gov or by fax to (202)648-9601. The deadline for comments is May 1, 2011. Read the entire study online at: http://cheaperthandirt.com/blog/wp-content/images/012611-study-on-importality-of-certain-shotguns.pdf
So e-mail and/or fax your response to the above mentioned contacts. They’ll likely ignore us since they know what better for you and me than, well, you and me. But it’s always fun to complain.
More head shaking news via Dvorak Uncensored has reared its ugly head. A New York senator who we’ll simply refer to here as Shit Head decided to go poking his nose in a home he wasn’t invited into, injured himself, and is suing the home owners:
Sen. Alesi claims in his lawsuit that he was hurt after deciding to look into the house of a Perinton, NY, couple, which was under construction under the time. The fun part is they didn’t know he was “looking into” their home, and he definitely was not invited, reports Rochester area WHEC News.
It gets better:
Alesi was cited in a sheriff’s report for criminal trespass, as the front door of the home was locked. He reportedly went to the back and snuck in through a basement level back door. He then tried to climb a ladder to the first floor, and fell, suffering leg injuries that required surgery. Alesi’s suit says the builders were negligent in maintaining a safe premises. DiRisio insists that the home was safe — for construction workers.
Yes Shit Head actually broke into the home, it wasn’t a case of a home under construction with no door attached yet. The asshole actually broke in, injured his dumb ass, and decided an appropriate response would be to sue his constituents. With “representatives” like this guy who needs the federal government to rain down tyranny?
Prepared to be shocked because the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has uncovered proof that the Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI) is violating laws in their pursuit of made-up bogeymen:
EFF has uncovered widespread violations stemming from FBI intelligence investigations from 2001 – 2008. In a report released today, EFF documents alarming trends in the Bureau’s intelligence investigation practices, suggesting that FBI intelligence investigations have compromised the civil liberties of American citizens far more frequently, and to a greater extent, than was previously assumed.
It’s OK though since they’re violating your rights to fight the terrorists. Also nobody is going to hear nor care about this so the FBI will likely not even get a slap on the wrist. Hell they’ll probably get a pat on the back for a job well done. Your government at work ladies and gentlemen.
I’m sure you’ve heard that Egypt has basically killed Internet access in a pointless attempt to censor those rightly angry with their dictator government. Many people are decrying this and rightfully so but many of these people are also making statements proclaiming how glad they are that such a situation couldn’t happen here. These people are stating that only fascists and dictators would do such things.
So, which on is our government? Personally I’d say closer to fascists since we don’t really have a single dictator in power at the moment. Either way our government has been pushing for legislation to create some form of “Internet kill switch” for some time now. They want to have the legal authority to shutdown the Internet in “times of emergency.”
This can happen here and our overlords representatives are trying to make it a possibility. If you don’t want to see the Egypt style kill switch here you need to complain to your so-called representatives now before they decide to pass it in some lame duck session.
Did you know bad shit is going down in Egypt? If you didn’t you’re apparently the average American because of the handful of people I’ve brought Egypt up to only two knew about the massive civil unrest and riots. Do yourself a favor, don’t be a stereotypical ignorant American and read on on the situation in Egypt. It’s far more important than any shit happening within our borders at the moment.
Although it seems the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms Explosives and Fun (ATF) a little late Snowlakes in Hell let us know they finally released their shotgun study [PDF]. Surprisingly it seems Saigas may be safe.
There is some stupid shit in there. For example exhibit four talks about integrated rails. If your rail runs along the top of the shotgun it’s “for sporting purposes” while rails located anywhere else are apparently only for murdering people with our side mounted flashlight (flashlights are also an item on the “bad things” list). Forward pistol grips are apparently evil as are those horrible magazines that can store an arbitrarily high number of rounds (the ATF chose five to be the number of rounds useful for “sporting purposes”). Oh and mounts for grenade launchers are also a no-no.
Basically the list contains a ton of stupid shit, about what you expect from a government agency that only exists to bad things that are fun. Thankfully nothing on that list specifically prohibits the Saiga shotgun (it’s imported with a five round magazine).
I took a bit of time out of my busy day to mock the anti-gunners because Obama didn’t heed their call and mention gun control in his State of the Union address. Well rumors are circulating that the White House will be making a push for stronger gun control in a short while:
But in the next two weeks, the White House will unveil a new gun-control effort in which it will urge Congress to strengthen current laws, which now allow some mentally unstable people, such as alleged Arizona shooter Jared Loughner, to obtain certain assault weapons, in some cases without even a background check.
Who knows if this is true or not but you can be sure you’ll hear about it on the gun blogs if it is. I’m sure if a push is made they will be trying to perform the impossible and require the NICS system to detect crazy. I’d mention a potential ban on large capacity magazines may be in the works but McCarthy already showed those cards with her stupid ass legislation.
Keep your ear to the ground ladies and gentlemen, if there is one entity on the planet that can’t be trusted to do the right thing (not make more worthless gun control laws) it’s government.