3/19/2005
Lautenberg Joins the SHit Parade
The illegitimately elected junior Senator from the PRNJ has introduced into the Senate the "Assault Weapons Ban and Law enforcement Protection Act" (the link goes to JTO-please click on it. Bandwidth costs them money.) Unfortunately, I couldn't find any mention of a Senate bill by that name, although there is a House bill sponsored by Rep. McCarthy (GFW-NY)by the same name. I assume Lautenberg's bill is the same thing, except the press release notes the Lautenberg's would be permanent, while McCarthy's is only for another 10 years.
Things in the House bill that are even more disturbing than the original AWB:
-(z) It shall be unlawful for any person to transfer any assault weapon with a large capacity ammunition feeding device.'
Now, what if I just sell it to someone in my own state? Sorry, I don't think the .fedgov can control that.
(6) The Attorney General shall establish and maintain, in a timely manner, a record of the make, model, and date of manufacture of any semiautomatic assault weapon which the Attorney General is made aware has been used in relation to a crime under Federal or State law, and the nature and circumstances of the crime involved, including the outcome of relevant criminal investigations and proceedings. The Attorney General shall annually submit the record to the Congress and make the record available to the general public.'
Another way of trying to convince the sheeple that "assault weapons" are somehow different from other firearms.
Also, for some reason the SVD Dragunov is added to the specified list of 'evil' rifles, despite the fact that it does not have a pistol grip and only uses 10 round magazines. I've never heard of one ever being used in a crime (unless you count the hajjis shooting at our troops overseas). Apparently the fact that it looks scary is enough.
Now, on to fisking Lautenberg's press release:
Washington, DC - Acting forcefully to protect citizens and law enforcers, United States Senator Frank R. Lautenberg introduced a bill which would restore the federal ban on dangerous assault weapons.
"Keeping assault weapons off our streets is common sense," said Senator Lautenberg.
Yes, keeping them off the street is common sense. They could easily be damaged laying around like that.
"Our first responsibility to the American people is to keep them safe."
No, your first responsibility is to keep the American people free, dipshit.
The "Assault Weapons Ban and Law enforcement Protection Act" would permanently reinstate and significantly strengthen the federal ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazine that expired on September 2004. The Lautenberg bill would improve and simplify the definition of assault weapons; would expand the scope of the ban to include conversion parts kits that can be purchased through the mail and used to build an assault weapon; regulate the transfer of grandfathered assault weapons; clarify definitions of assault weapon characteristics; and enhance tracing of assault weapons.
So far, sounds the same as McCarthy's bill. Which won't go anywhere in the House.
"It is time to act in the interest of the American people, not the gun lobby," said Senator Lautenberg. "Innocent lives, including law enforcement officials, are at risk and we need to pass this legislation now. Gun laws should be there to protect the innocent; not help criminals and terrorists"
Guess what, Mr. Lauthenberg? The gun lobby represents a whole lot more of the American people than the anti-gun lobby. And if you're so interested in protecting the innocent, how about some laws that help up protect ourselves, since courts have held that it's not the job of law enforcement to do that?
You should have stayed retired, old man. The Republic would be safer that way.
UPDATE: The bill is S645. Text isn't available on the .gov website, but you can get most of it here at THR.
Do it again, only HARDER!!!
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3/18/2005
Credit Card Companies helping the Pleasure Police
According to this AP report, the major credit card companies has reached an agreement with the states and the ATF and will not allow their cards to be used to purchase cigarettes over the internet, effective immediately. Since this move will cost the credit card companies some money, I have to wonder if they're getting something out of the agreement, or if they're being bullied by Big Brother.
This is all about tax revenues, especially for those places like NYC and Washington state with extremely high cigarette taxes. However, I wonder how long it will take major online tobacco vendors to set up to do direct bank transfers from their customers' checking accounts.
Of course, making it harder to buy cigarettes online (and avoid high taxes) will lead to an increase in the smuggling and block market sales of ciagarettes from low tax states. We've already seen this in NYC, where turf wars among black market cigarette sellers can be almost as nasty as those among drug dealers.
Toward the end of the article, we also find this bit:
The ATF estimated that millions of dollars from illegal cigarette sales are diverted each year to terrorists and criminal organizations. And states lose more than $1 billion a year in tax revenue from Internet tobacco sales.
Clever how they try to link internet tobacco sales to terrorists and organized crime. While there may be some links, for the most part the terrorists and mobsters amek their money of cigarettes the old fashioned way: by buying them by the truckload in, say, Kentucky, then taking them to, say, New York City, and selling them out of the trunk of a car in an alley. Activities which the ATF and the various state attorneys general are now helping make more profitable and thus increase.
Your tax dollars at work. Thanks guys.
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Confession
I must say it: I don't like basketball. Not at all. I just find it really, really boring. And I especially hate March, when college basketball is about the only sport on TV, in the newspapers, and on sports talk radio shows.
Usually this time of year I'm griping because ESPN is showing a basketball game featuring two colleges I've never heard of instead of a perfectly good NHL hockey game. Of course, this year, the NHL decided not to play. So I'm left with spring training and tidbits about the NFL draft.
Giants open at home against the most loathsome team in sport, the LA Dodgers, April 5th.
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3/17/2005
Corporal Punishment
I'm not talking paddling in school or parents spanking their kids. What I'm thinking about is the use of punishments such as flogging in the criminal justice system.
My impetus here is that I just finished reading (for the umpteenth time) Heinlein's Starship Troopers. One of my all time favorite books. AFAIK, flogging as a punishment for certain crimes was still on the books at the time of the adoption of the Bill of Rights. So, if you're using the argument of Original Meaning/Intent of the Founders, it stands to reason that they might not have viewed flogging as 'cruel and unusual' punishment. I think I'll have to go dig around at least the Federalist Papers. Anyone know any good online searchable references on that?
And can anyone here honestly argue that using flogging as a punishment (screw 'rehabiliation') wouldn't have a heck of a lot more deterent effect than locking criminals up in prisons where they can hang out with other criminals, watch TV, and work out?
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3/15/2005
Black Rifle-itis
It's a most insidious disease. It can start in a couple of ways. One way is to purchase some form of the Evil Black Rifle. Usually this is an AR variant, but it can also be caused by AKs, FALS, M1As, and sometimes even SKSs. It can also because by exposure-sometimes even mere exposure to pictures-to Evil Black Rifles belonging to other people.
The primary symptom of Black Rifle-itis (BRI) is the constant desire to 'trick out' one's EBR by adding all sorts of various 'tactical' accessories-rail systems, red-dot sights, weaponlights-the list is near endless, and more are added with each passing week. The victim finds himself (or sometimes herself, although the victims are primarily male) obsessively combing through the Shotgun News, web forums such as AR15.com, and the websites of the multitude of manufacturers and retailers, looking for the best prices on the coolest new gadgets.
The most severe effect of BR-itis is the drain on financial resources. In many cases, especially those involving rail systems and Surefire weaponlights, the cost of the accessories eclipses the cost of the original EBR, sometimes by a considerable margin. In this area, the effects of BRI are much the same as those caused by Cruffler's Disease. Some extremely unfortunate individuals have been infected with both, with disasterous effect on their personal finances, leading to a slow spiral into insanity as they are no longer able to support the desires caused by either disease.
As this time there is no known cure for BRI. It can be placed into remission, usually by given a spouse/loved one control and/or oversight of the victim's checking and credit accounts. However, the disease may return at any time and with little or no warning.
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I've got in under control. Really, I can quit anytime I want to.
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Ma Deuce's Diary
Sometime ago, around when the GFWs started targeting the .50BMG rifles in earnest, I subscribed to a Google news alert with the keyword ".50 caliber." That got me a bunch of articles and opinion pieces from all sorts of newspapers to read about the .50 BMG rifles. I also found included a lot of stories about our troops in Iraq-stories that included, somewhere in them, mention of the M2 .50 caliber machine gun. These stories mostly come from smaller, local papers, about local units, active duty, Guard and Reserve. Not the kind of stories you'll see in the Big Media. The kind of stories that deserve wider exposure. So I'll be posting links to these stories, under the heading above. Gun nuts and vets know who Ma Deuce is.
For openers, we've got two stories, on about a National Guard unit from California, and another about the sinking of a U-boat of North Carolina in WWII.
Local soldiers tame Mosul
The Secret Victory: First U-boat sunk in WWII met its demise at the Outer Banks
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3/14/2005
Good News Roundup
Arthur Chrenkoff has his latest roundup of good news from Iraq.
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Army Approves M107 .50BMG Rifle for Full Material Release
The M107 (basically, the Barrett M82) was already in use under what is called an "urgent materiel release." But now it's fully type standardized for use by all units whose Table of Organization & Equipment authorizes them.
The upside on the Second Amendment side? .50 BMG rifles, at least semi-automatic ones, now meet the test established in U.S. v. Miller. Kind of tough to say that the militia shouldn't have a rifle that the Army does. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Sarah Brady.
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