Notes From HPS

BY Herschel Smith
9 years, 1 month ago

David Codrea:

Noting he is prohibited from commenting on grand jury proceedings, perhaps the DA’s mindset can be gleaned from a statement that is on public record. Berberian had previously maintained the shooting was inappropriate and illegal due to what he called “community standards.” In Marin County, those standards place a political “stigma” on gun ownership, and Berberian’s personal hostility to gun ownership, where he goes so far as to invite citizens to “surrender” their firearms to a “buyback” program, is seen by some as an “unhealthy obsession.”

Community standards?  Perhaps we need a community standard that takes corrupt DAs out behind the jail to find a lamp post and some rope.

David is following up that awful commercial made by the anti-gun nuts. “The producer of an anti-gun “public service announcement” video appears to have violated California law regarding either real or imitation firearms on school premises, a Freedom of Information Act response by the North Oakland Community Charter School implies by default. Documents provided to Gun Rights Examiner in response to a Public Records Act request partially corroborate the school executive director’s earlier claim that “NOCCS does not allow, condone, or support bringing weapons of any kind (real or replicas) to school.”

David is pointing people to a debate appended to one of his articles, where Bruce Krafft argues as follows:

I would be tripped up by the second half of the very first question: “Do you believe … that the Bill of Rights acknowledges a birthright of all Americans?” Nope; the Bill of Rights “acknowledges a birthright” of all people regardless of where they were born. As L. Neil Smith said in his Letter to a Liberal Colleague: “[T]he freedom to own and carry the weapon of your choice is a natural, fundamental, and inalienable human, individual, civil, and Constitutional right.”

And after some argument, he says “You believe that immigration will be a net drain despite the fact that some 50% of new businesses are started by 1st generation immigrants.”

Let’s be clear here.  I can answer David’s first question with clarity and intentionally include not just some sort of vague, murky “natural” right (I am not a follower of John Locke and his ilk).  I believe that the God of the Bible has granted every man the right to defend his family the way he sees fit.  Now to Mr. Krafft’s problem.

He is a simpleton.  All of that has abolutely nothing whatsoever to do with whether the U.S. recognizes aliens, gives them sustenance, recognizes rights, or anything else.  Just as I can point to God having granted the right to self defense and amelioration of tyranny to all men everywhere, I can also point to a sovereign state’s resposibility to secure its borders, protect its heritage, and secure its freedom from tyranny.

Allowing voters in who would undermine that runs directly contrary to a state’s God given duties.  What another state recognizes (or not) for its citizens isn’t our concern.  That is between God and those evil rulers.  Just as we cannot be the police of the world, we also cannot ensure every man’s rights are observed by allowing our borders to be violated.  Setting one concept over against another (in a Morton’s Fork) is fodder for college freshmen.  We aren’t college freshmen, we think more clearly than that.  As for the notion that “immigrants start this,” or “immigrants did that,” or “we are all immigrants of some sort,” I am completely unmoved.  This is a play on emotions because Mr. Krafft knows he has lost the argument.  I don’t vote or advocate based on emotions.  Go emote with someone who cares, Mr. Krafft.  David titles his post at WoG “A Libertarian Paradox.”  Philosopher Gordon H. Clark once said of paradoxes, they are a “charlie horse in the head.”  So this too.  There is no logical problem here, just a lack of clear thought.

In an exchange I knew nothing about until today (I have been out of pocket for a while), Mike Vanderboegh is contemplating potential arrest at the WA state house as part of “I will not comply” protests.  David weighs in with Mike asking him to reconsider, and for a rundown of his own reason you will have to read David’s letter to Mike.

I have nothing at all to add to either Mike’s reasons or David’s counterarguments.  This is entirely a personal decision, neither dictated nor forbidden by Biblical precepts.  Perhaps there is wisdom to be gleaned, but that’s not the same thing as rules, sin, righteousness and the like.  I have not been a part of things like this because I have a job, and that job quite literally required me over the past several weeks to work about 20 straight days without time off.  Moreover, my job requires that I stay free from felony arrests, and even lesser charges could be problematic.

That said, I do get that there must be a line in the sand.  Every man must make those decisions for himself.  I cannot suffer the notion that the federal government has a list of every firearm owned and who owns them.  What I would do about that is none of your business until I tell you and make it your business.  The one thing on which I disagree with David is this: “And no, I don’t see a way to back out of this without losing face.”

Oh, I don’t know about that.  Haters will always hate.  Anonymous commenters annoy me, and like David I require that men go on record, at least with me if not others.  But posting an anonymous comment ridiculing Mike’s decision, one way or another, impresses me as sound and fury signifying nothing.  It’s like the little yap-yap dogs who run up to my 82 pound red and rust Dobbi, Heidi, making all sorts of unappealing noises, until she looks their way, and then they turn tail and run.  I think Heidi must be amused.  I know I am.

That’s what I recommend for Mike.  Amusement is appropriate in some circumstances.  But if you want to go to WA, do it.  If you don’t, then don’t.  Here is how you tell folks your decision.  You simply tell them.  That’s the end of it.  I don’t embarrass easily (engineers usually suffer from over-confidence and an almost pathological inability to care about the views of others – so I acknowledge there’s a problem with us, but I’m confident that problem doesn’t apply to me).  So maybe I’m a bad one to offer counsel.  But I just don’t see the issue with “saving face.”  It doesn’t have even the slightest traction with me.

WeaponsMan has a demurral for the M-14 / M1A lovers.  Well, I suspect that this will draw out as many violent remarks as haters of the 5.56 mm round and M-16/M-4/AR-15 platform.


Comments

  1. On February 3, 2015 at 8:27 pm, Ned Weatherby said:

    Regarding the Bruce Krafft’s bogus statement:”50% of new businesses are started by 1st generation immigrants”: According to Numbers USA, (an anti illegal immigration site with fundraising activity BS almost as embarrassing as NRA’s) linking to a DHS source, the legal immigration average for the last 5 years = 1,135,749 per year.

    BTW, a 50% rise in foreign born business owners does not equal 50% of all new businesses. More like under 1/5 of new businesses, according to Bloomberg Business news. According to a 2012 NY Times story, around 15% of new businesses are immigrant owned, employing 18% immigrants. The businesses are, perhaps legal ones, but who knows about the immigrant employees? And many of these businesses are restaurants and quick marts. Not exactly offering much in the way of wages.

    Before the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, most drywall contractors in CA were driven out of business by illegal alien labor, paid directly by builders and developers. After the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, these newly-minted citizens discovered they had to be licensed, carry liability and workman’s comp insurance, and found they couldn’t afford to work for the depressed wages they were responsible for driving down. So they filed lawsuits against the builders and developers they had been in league with to drive down wages. Some went on strike to unionize. I was in CA at the time, working as a contractor. I remember this well. There’s more to the details of the lawsuit(s) than that, but that’s a thumbnail.

    Seems the contractors weren’t willing to hot bunk, 8 to a room, 30 or so to a house, just for the pleasure of doing the work. After becoming “legal,” neither were the newly minted citizens. That’s an example of “immigrant business owners.” How many in new immigrant businesses in construction are here at the cost of driving other contractors out of business? during the last bubble, wages in construction plummeted, due primarily to unskilled labor performing skilled labor tasks. Quality suffered, and many skilled craftsmen moved on to other things. Now there is a dearth of skilled craftsmen in construction.

    One of the “libertarian” principles that illegal immigration seems to look the other way on, is trespass. I see few southern border dwellers, whose property is trashed, stock killed, and houses invaded, wanting “no borders.” In fact, most just would like their property borders respected. Seems the people who get the most out of illegal immigration, and argue in support most vehemently, are typically Prozis or Neocons who live in gated communities, in order to keep the unwashed hoi polloi from even driving down their hallowed street.

    The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimates that illegal aliens cost U.S. taxpayers more than $100 billion each year. But, point in fact, the business owner argument is a straw man diversion to the gun rights issue.

    Russn8r, who took Bruce Krafft has been repeatedly flamed about NRA director Norquist, about immigration, and the immigration/amnesty threat to gun rights in the comments section over at David Codrea’s Gun Rights Examiner, in pretty much every article about NRA written by David.

    Russn8r was repeatedly flamed on David Codrea’s when he brought up NRA’s backstabbing position on amnesty – despite the fact that he supplied URLs to back up his position.

    More info about Groveler Norquisling – the NRA RINO superstar: http://waronguns.blogspot.com/2015/01/about-those-nra-elections.html This is the sort of info NRA members need. Funny thing – I’m an NRA life member – and the only time I didn’t receive a copy of American Rifleman was the edition that contained the ballot for the last NRA election.

    NRA’s in-house picks are typically a sure bet to avoid. One way to stack the vote in the NRA election is to vote for only one, two, or three candidates that would actually do us good. It is becoming more difficult to learn which candidates are truly in support of the whole Bill of Rights.

    And finally – an article on the M14 – that ammo-sensitive battle rifle, esteemed by so many – who don’t own, and have never carried one. Thanks for the info, Herschel.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment


You are currently reading "Notes From HPS", entry #13356 on The Captain's Journal.

This article is filed under the category(s) Guns and was published February 2nd, 2015 by Herschel Smith.

If you're interested in what else the The Captain's Journal has to say, you might try thumbing through the archives and visiting the main index, or; perhaps you would like to learn more about TCJ.

26th MEU (10)
Abu Muqawama (12)
ACOG (2)
ACOGs (1)
Afghan National Army (36)
Afghan National Police (17)
Afghanistan (704)
Afghanistan SOFA (4)
Agriculture in COIN (3)
AGW (1)
Air Force (40)
Air Power (10)
al Qaeda (83)
Ali al-Sistani (1)
America (22)
Ammunition (275)
Animals (282)
Ansar al Sunna (15)
Anthropology (3)
Antonin Scalia (1)
AR-15s (373)
Arghandab River Valley (1)
Arlington Cemetery (2)
Army (86)
Assassinations (2)
Assault Weapon Ban (28)
Australian Army (7)
Azerbaijan (4)
Backpacking (2)
Badr Organization (8)
Baitullah Mehsud (21)
Basra (17)
BATFE (218)
Battle of Bari Alai (2)
Battle of Wanat (18)
Battle Space Weight (3)
Bin Laden (7)
Blogroll (3)
Blogs (24)
Body Armor (23)
Books (3)
Border War (18)
Brady Campaign (1)
Britain (38)
British Army (35)
Camping (5)
Canada (17)
Castle Doctrine (1)
Caucasus (6)
CENTCOM (7)
Center For a New American Security (8)
Charity (3)
China (16)
Christmas (16)
CIA (30)
Civilian National Security Force (3)
Col. Gian Gentile (9)
Combat Outposts (3)
Combat Video (2)
Concerned Citizens (6)
Constabulary Actions (3)
Coolness Factor (3)
COP Keating (4)
Corruption in COIN (4)
Council on Foreign Relations (1)
Counterinsurgency (218)
DADT (2)
David Rohde (1)
Defense Contractors (2)
Department of Defense (210)
Department of Homeland Security (26)
Disaster Preparedness (5)
Distributed Operations (5)
Dogs (15)
Donald Trump (27)
Drone Campaign (4)
EFV (3)
Egypt (12)
El Salvador (1)
Embassy Security (1)
Enemy Spotters (1)
Expeditionary Warfare (17)
F-22 (2)
F-35 (1)
Fallujah (17)
Far East (3)
Fathers and Sons (2)
Favorite (1)
Fazlullah (3)
FBI (39)
Featured (189)
Federal Firearms Laws (18)
Financing the Taliban (2)
Firearms (1,758)
Football (1)
Force Projection (35)
Force Protection (4)
Force Transformation (1)
Foreign Policy (27)
Fukushima Reactor Accident (6)
Ganjgal (1)
Garmsir (1)
general (15)
General Amos (1)
General James Mattis (1)
General McChrystal (44)
General McKiernan (6)
General Rodriguez (3)
General Suleimani (9)
Georgia (19)
GITMO (2)
Google (1)
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (1)
Gun Control (1,634)
Guns (2,298)
Guns In National Parks (3)
Haditha Roundup (10)
Haiti (2)
HAMAS (7)
Haqqani Network (9)
Hate Mail (8)
Hekmatyar (1)
Heroism (4)
Hezbollah (12)
High Capacity Magazines (16)
High Value Targets (9)
Homecoming (1)
Homeland Security (3)
Horses (2)
Humor (72)
Hunting (31)
ICOS (1)
IEDs (7)
Immigration (106)
India (10)
Infantry (4)
Information Warfare (4)
Infrastructure (4)
Intelligence (23)
Intelligence Bulletin (6)
Iran (171)
Iraq (379)
Iraq SOFA (23)
Islamic Facism (64)
Islamists (98)
Israel (19)
Jaish al Mahdi (21)
Jalalabad (1)
Japan (3)
Jihadists (81)
John Nagl (5)
Joint Intelligence Centers (1)
JRTN (1)
Kabul (1)
Kajaki Dam (1)
Kamdesh (9)
Kandahar (12)
Karachi (7)
Kashmir (2)
Khost Province (1)
Khyber (11)
Knife Blogging (7)
Korea (4)
Korengal Valley (3)
Kunar Province (20)
Kurdistan (3)
Language in COIN (5)
Language in Statecraft (1)
Language Interpreters (2)
Lashkar-e-Taiba (2)
Law Enforcement (6)
Lawfare (14)
Leadership (6)
Lebanon (6)
Leon Panetta (2)
Let Them Fight (2)
Libya (14)
Lines of Effort (3)
Littoral Combat (8)
Logistics (50)
Long Guns (1)
Lt. Col. Allen West (2)
Marine Corps (280)
Marines in Bakwa (1)
Marines in Helmand (67)
Marjah (4)
MEDEVAC (2)
Media (67)
Medical (146)
Memorial Day (6)
Mexican Cartels (41)
Mexico (61)
Michael Yon (6)
Micromanaging the Military (7)
Middle East (1)
Military Blogging (26)
Military Contractors (5)
Military Equipment (25)
Militia (9)
Mitt Romney (3)
Monetary Policy (1)
Moqtada al Sadr (2)
Mosul (4)
Mountains (25)
MRAPs (1)
Mullah Baradar (1)
Mullah Fazlullah (1)
Mullah Omar (3)
Musa Qala (4)
Music (25)
Muslim Brotherhood (6)
Nation Building (2)
National Internet IDs (1)
National Rifle Association (95)
NATO (15)
Navy (30)
Navy Corpsman (1)
NCOs (3)
News (1)
NGOs (3)
Nicholas Schmidle (2)
Now Zad (19)
NSA (3)
NSA James L. Jones (6)
Nuclear (62)
Nuristan (8)
Obama Administration (221)
Offshore Balancing (1)
Operation Alljah (7)
Operation Khanjar (14)
Ossetia (7)
Pakistan (165)
Paktya Province (1)
Palestine (5)
Patriotism (7)
Patrolling (1)
Pech River Valley (11)
Personal (72)
Petraeus (14)
Pictures (1)
Piracy (13)
Pistol (4)
Pizzagate (21)
Police (648)
Police in COIN (3)
Policy (15)
Politics (970)
Poppy (2)
PPEs (1)
Prisons in Counterinsurgency (12)
Project Gunrunner (20)
PRTs (1)
Qatar (1)
Quadrennial Defense Review (2)
Quds Force (13)
Quetta Shura (1)
RAND (3)
Recommended Reading (14)
Refueling Tanker (1)
Religion (491)
Religion and Insurgency (19)
Reuters (1)
Rick Perry (4)
Rifles (1)
Roads (4)
Rolling Stone (1)
Ron Paul (1)
ROTC (1)
Rules of Engagement (75)
Rumsfeld (1)
Russia (37)
Sabbatical (1)
Sangin (1)
Saqlawiyah (1)
Satellite Patrols (2)
Saudi Arabia (4)
Scenes from Iraq (1)
Second Amendment (668)
Second Amendment Quick Hits (2)
Secretary Gates (9)
Sharia Law (3)
Shura Ittehad-ul-Mujahiden (1)
SIIC (2)
Sirajuddin Haqqani (1)
Small Wars (72)
Snipers (9)
Sniveling Lackeys (2)
Soft Power (4)
Somalia (8)
Sons of Afghanistan (1)
Sons of Iraq (2)
Special Forces (28)
Squad Rushes (1)
State Department (23)
Statistics (1)
Sunni Insurgency (10)
Support to Infantry Ratio (1)
Supreme Court (52)
Survival (185)
SWAT Raids (57)
Syria (38)
Tactical Drills (38)
Tactical Gear (14)
Taliban (168)
Taliban Massing of Forces (4)
Tarmiyah (1)
TBI (1)
Technology (21)
Tehrik-i-Taliban (78)
Terrain in Combat (1)
Terrorism (96)
Thanksgiving (13)
The Anbar Narrative (23)
The Art of War (5)
The Fallen (1)
The Long War (20)
The Surge (3)
The Wounded (13)
Thomas Barnett (1)
Transnational Insurgencies (5)
Tribes (5)
TSA (24)
TSA Ineptitude (13)
TTPs (4)
U.S. Border Patrol (6)
U.S. Border Security (18)
U.S. Sovereignty (23)
UAVs (2)
UBL (4)
Ukraine (10)
Uncategorized (98)
Universal Background Check (3)
Unrestricted Warfare (4)
USS Iwo Jima (2)
USS San Antonio (1)
Uzbekistan (1)
V-22 Osprey (4)
Veterans (3)
Vietnam (1)
War & Warfare (412)
War & Warfare (41)
War Movies (4)
War Reporting (21)
Wardak Province (1)
Warriors (6)
Waziristan (1)
Weapons and Tactics (79)
West Point (1)
Winter Operations (1)
Women in Combat (21)
WTF? (1)
Yemen (1)

March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006

about · archives · contact · register

Copyright © 2006-2024 Captain's Journal. All rights reserved.