Archive for the 'Firearms' Category

Ammoland:

Kailua, HI -(AmmoLand.com)- The Senate Public Safety Committee, Chairman Senator Clarence K. Nishihara, will hold a public hearing on HB2632 March 17, 2016.

Please click on the bill number above for bill information and to send testimony.  HRA OPPOSES.

Deadline to submit testimony, 1:45 pm Wednesday March 16.

Requires the county police to seize all firearms from any person who is a danger to self or others due to mental health reasons and requires emergency hospitalization. Good idea! But where’s the due process?

The bill language in the present draft is unclear as to whether a judge’s order is required to seize guns. HPD thinks they won’t need one.

HRA remains STRONGLY OPPOSED unless the bill is amended to specify that a court order must be obtained for the hospitalization before firearms can be seized, as required under the 2nd and 4th Amendments and Hawaii State law: capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol06_Ch0321-0344/HRS0334/HRS_0334-0061.htm.

MAHALO,

HARVEY GERWIG, LEGISLATIVE LIAISON and PRESIDENT, HRA

For more information, visit: www.hawaiirifleassociation.org.

Ah, mental health again.  So tell us, Senator Nishihara, all about the awful things you’re going to stop with this additional power and bureaucracy?  Remember that we’ve got mental health professionals on record stating that mental health maladies do not constitute propensity to violence, and that they cannot be predictors of violence with their profession.  So with that in mind, tell us all about how you’re going to stop awful things from happening?  We’re listening.  Tell us all about your scholarly prowess in mental health and how you know more than the professionals.

I’ve exchanged email with Harvey Gerwig.  Nice guy, and I hope Hawaii gun owners are able to wrap their arms around the problem of this terrible, totalitarian state government.

News From Oklahoma:

The Oklahoma House Thursday overwhelmingly adopted legislation that would permit gun owners to carry their weapons openly without a state-issued license.

House members voted 73-15 for House Bill 3098, the so-called “constitutional open carry” measure, and sent it to the state Senate for debate and a vote.

The measure’s author, Republican Rep. Jeff Coody of Grandfield, said it is similar to open carry laws in more than 30 other states and would allow gun owners to exercise their Second Amendment right to carry firearms openly, such is in a holster, without having to comply with existing state government licensing requirements.

Coody said persons who want to carry a concealed weapon would still be required to obtain a state permit.

“It’s the ultimate freedom bill regarding open carry,” Coody said. Coody and other supporters said citizens who are qualified to own a handgun should not be required to ask the government for permission and pay a fee to openly carry it.

“It’s our God-given right to defend our self,” said Rep. John Bennett, R-Sallisaw.

But opponents said it would have serious financial consequences for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, which administers firearms licenses issued under the Oklahoma Self Defense Act.

A fiscal analysis performed for the House indicates the measure would reduce OSBI’s revenue by at least $6 million and would lead to the loss of jobs and reduced operating expenses at the agency.

The reduction in revenue would be because firearms owners would no longer seek concealed carry licenses – which cost $100 for initial 5-year license and $200 for 10 years – if they could carry a gun openly without a license. There are now more than 238,300 Oklahomans with active licenses to carry handguns, according to state figures.

Seldom do you see it in such stark words.  Recognizing God-given rights will lead to the rejection of state-granted rights, thus leading to less power by the state, and fewer jobs at the feeding trough of public wealth.  Therefore, the statists are against recognizing God-given rights.

So there you have it.  I believe some of these grievances are similar to those that were enumerated by the colonists against King George.  Yes, now that I think about it, I’m sure of it.  “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.”

The Washington Post:

A masked man burst into a 7-Eleven near Seattle early Sunday morning, swinging a hatchet and slicing the store clerk.

Before the masked man could seriously hurt anyone, though, a customer who was drinking his morning coffee pulled out a concealed weapon and fatally shot the attacker.

Authorities did not name the attacker or the customer, but they did hail the concealed weapon owner as a hero.

“This could have been disastrous,” King County Sheriff Sgt. Cindi West told KIRO7. “Had this guy not shot, who knows what would have happened? We might have a dead clerk right now, and instead we have a dead bad guy.”

The clerk, Kuldeep Singh, suffered minor cuts to his stomach. He, too, thanked the customer for saving his life.

“He [was] killing me,” Singh, 58, said of the hatchet-wielding attacker. Singh added that the customer was a “nice guy.”

West said that the incident will be investigated fully but that the 60-year-old customer was currently being considered a Good Samaritan.

Wait a minute!  The weapon carrier wasn’t an evil NRA member child molester and serial abuser?  You mean he wasn’t a rapist?  You mean he didn’t make things less safe by carrying a weapon?  We hear all the time about how use – even mere ownership – of a weapon always fails and makes you less safe.  In this case, even the LEO is calling this guy a hero, while the victim is hailing him as a good Samaritan.

The narrative failed so badly in this case something had to go wrong at The Washington Post.  How did the editors let this one slip through?

Do you grok the one-handed operation?  No, me neither.

At Mike Vanderboegh’s place, good grief.

David Codrea:

There is a group working right now toward restoration of the Constitutional Militia and other goals, and it’s sharing that message and hoping to recruit members and support: AmericaAgain! I was approached by their founder a few months back and, while I found merit in many of their ideas, had concerns about the way they were presented.  I see they have a reworked video message which merits being shared, because it opens the door to discussing what one group is going forward with to make the Militia as articulated in the Constitution a reality.

Read the whole thing, including the comment that prompted David’s column.  I’m all for this kind of thing, except for one stipulation.  The second amendment discusses the right to bear arms and be free of federal interference in the context of the states’ desire to keep that interference from happening.  That is the historical milieu in which it was written.  The founders only needed one excuse to prevent federal government interference with the states on firearms, and they chose the most likely and obvious choice, i.e., the militia.  The second amendment is not a treatise on the foundation of liberty.

It’s an illogical jump to cast that as the only reason for the right to own and bear arms.  If you had discussed regulation on the right to own and use a tool of their trade to protect their families, hunt, and ameliorate tyranny with a colonial man, he would have buried you under the remotest prison.  God gave us our rights based on man being created in His image and the expected duty to work and subdue the earth to His glory.  The militia was a convenient excuse for a certain clause in one part of the constitution.  Limiting our rights to our understanding of that clause is a mistake.

Nice Holster.  I’d take it is someone like say, Red’s Indoor Range, wanted to gift it to me.

CNN:

Bold move for a politician? Perhaps.

But the decision reflects Cruz’s deepening alliance with the powerful gun lobby and his effort to cast himself as an unapologetic warrior for the Second Amendment.

A CNN review of speeches, interviews and court filings shows that Cruz has spent years forging ties with defenders of the Second Amendment — including a group to the right of the NRA. Some of those he’s allied himself with disdain all gun control, including gun-free zones at schools and other government buildings. Cruz has embraced those relationships as an aspect of his candidacy that sets himself apart from his rivals.

[ … ]

Throughout the primary process, Cruz has touted his endorsement by the Gun Owners of America, a gun-rights group that boasts a “no compromise” stance on gun control.

In an election season that has defied all odds, the gun-rights debate has not followed a predictable path in the primaries. And while Cruz has worked to establish his Second Amendment bona fides, some establishment figures in the Republican Party see this alliance as one of the most serious problems he would face in broadening his appeal if he reaches the general election.

“This is a group that could be portrayed as extreme, and off in a ditch,” said South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a former 2016 presidential candidate who has tangled with Cruz in the Senate but now sees him as a preferable alternative to Trump. “Anybody they endorse will have to carry those bags.”

[ … ]

The group’s executive director, Larry Pratt, opposes all gun control and sees massacres like the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School as evidence of the need for more, not fewer weapons in America.

Pratt has little tolerance for those who oppose his views, including the President and members of Congress. He said “it’s kind of a good thing” that politicians who favor gun control are in fear of being assassinated or deposed.

“That’s what the Second Amendment is,” Pratt said, “It’s a warning.”

There is much more at CNN.  It’s a very lengthy article, and good except for the assumption that Cruz has triangulated his position rather than holding it outright.  I wouldn’t expect much more than that from the MSM.  But read the rest of the article.  His position on gun rights goes way, way back, well before he ever even got into politics.

As for the awful little woman Lindsey Graham, his hand-wringing over the baggage associated with Larry Pratt is amusing and pitiful.  Larry is right.  The second amendment is a warning – a warning to people like Lindsey Graham to stop lording it over the people and do their bidding.  That’s why Graham is so uncomfortable with it.

As for what people thing about Pratt’s endorsement, my God.  What a bunch of little girls.  What happened to the men of America, who would stand on principle and say what they thought, back it up, and refuse to equivocate?  It appears we’ve lost most of them.  Cruz is one of the good guys, one who has never backed away from gun rights.

Jeremy Bryant makes a 420 mile trip through Oregon to his grandfather’s funeral open carrying a .357 Magnum, hitchhiking all the way.  This is well worth watching in its entirety.  And Jeremy has given me a brand new expression which I will shamelessly parrot until I no longer have breath.  “For the peace, good and dignity of the country and the welfare of its people.”

The National Association of Evangelicals (USA) has gone on record saying that there should be no religious test for “refugees.”

“Religion should not be a litmus test for receiving aid,” said Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). “Most evangelical leaders believe compassion and security can and should go hand-in-hand.”

While the NAE races down the road to irrelevance, take note of this news from Austria:

Austrians fear parts of Vienna are becoming no-go areas after a father was attacked by a ‘Sharia patrol’ when he told them to stop threatening his wife and daughter for not being correctly dressed.

As various factions of migrants stake claims to territory in the city, it has been reported that the self-styled Sharia patrols have been visiting clubs and bars in the Millennium City area to make sure Chechen women were properly dressed and acting appropriately.

However, when one Austrian man tried to step in to stop the patrol from hassling his Chechen wife and daughter, he ended up being hospitalised.

I’m not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice.  But if such a person comes up to me or my family in that manner, I’m going to say “I feel threatened, back off.”  If they don’t, I will shoot them (hopefully before they close the gap, which means we will be backing up to keep distance).  After I do that, I will never talk to the police.  That will be done by my lawyer.

You should make plans of some sort for dealing with aggression such as this.  And do not ever give up your guns to anyone, for any reason.  I’m not just talking about your modularized-up, tricked out AR-15, with the tactical light, pressure switch, reflex sight and flip-to-side magnifier, because you don’t carry that with you everywhere you go.  In fact, you rarely carry it anywhere.

When you go about your business every day, you carry a tactical knife and a handgun, perhaps a compact 1911 or a small airweight .38Spl revolver.  The best gun in your stable of firearms is the one you have with you when you need it.  I love the gun I carry, because it happens to be the one I am carrying at the time.

Herald-Mail Media:

Surrounded by law enforcement officials Thursday, Tomblin vetoed the bill over their safety concerns. He vetoed similar legislation last year.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I urge you to just look around this room for a moment, and see that law enforcement are concerned about this bill,” Tomblin said Thursday.

On Saturday, opponents echoed concerns that the Republican leadership was ignoring law enforcement’s worries.

“It’s a slap in the governor’s face, but it’s a slap in the State Police’s face, sheriffs, municipal police officers and the vast majority of our constituents,” said Sen. Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha.

Proponents contended that the proposal would help people protect themselves through a constitutional right.

“This bill will help protect West Virginians, in addition to keeping West Virginians free, as guaranteed by the Constitution,” said Sen. Kent Leonhardt, R-Monongalia.

Well, they all deserved to be slapped in the face for opposing the free exercise of constitutional rights.  So I’m back to my original prediction.  “Nothing will happen.  The doomsday predictions the LEOs most assuredly made will not obtain.  There won’t be any discernible change in the number of firearms related crimes as a result of the elimination of permitting requirements.”

Someone remind me in about a year and we’ll go back and dig up statistics and data on this.  It’ll be fun and enlightening.

News and views from Baltimore:

BALTIMORE (WBFF) – There are two investigations centered on the gun almost all Baltimore County Police officers use as side arms. Crime and Justice Reporter Joy Lepola began investigating these guns more than 18 months ago. One of those guns went off inside a police precinct, while secured inside an officer’s holster.

On February 2, 2016, a Baltimore County police officer walks into the Pikesville Precinct when the jolt of a gunshot, stops him from taking another step. What’s unclear is how it happened.

According to reports FOX45 obtained from the county, the officer says the gun discharged while in its holster. Five officers gave statements saying they were nearby when they heard the gunshot.

The department says it is unaware of a holstered gun ever discharging until now. The department was warned it could happen.

In 2014, a FOX45 investigation uncovered serious safety concerns buried within hundreds of reports and inter-office emails. At the time, the county was in the process of buying new guns for every police officer, almost 2,000 .40 caliber pistols made by FN-America. In one complaint, an officer claimed a round went off without someone’s finger on the trigger.

Oh dear.  Okay, before we begin the “guns don’t just go off” routine, let’s stipulate right up front that there are three types of discharges.  (1) intentional, (2) negligent, and (3) due to mechanical malfunctions.  Number (3) does in fact happen, when there is a very bad design flaw, or perhaps in older firearms models if a firing pin got stuck and cycling the slide causes a “slam fire,” to name one specific malfunction.

Number (3) is also very, very unlikely, and a low probability scenario.  Furthermore, the notion of a gun discharging while sitting in the holster (with no human interaction) is ridiculous.  The officer likely put his finger on the trigger and caused a negligent discharge, was embarrassed about it, didn’t want to be reprimanded or lose his job, and fabricated a false story to hide the truth.

If a gun ever discharges without your finger on the trigger (think Remington 700 by cycling the bolt, a failure Remington documented dozens of time at their own facilities), go see a Gunsmith.  Don’t write discussion threads, don’t make allegations, don’t hide it.  Go see a Gunsmith.  Not an armorer, not a parts changer.  A Gunsmith.  If it’s a mechanical failure, it will be repeatable.  If not, you put your finger on the trigger when you shouldn’t have.

How safe are police service weapons?  Never.  It is a gun.  It isn’t safe.  Don’t ever treat it as if it’s inherently safe, any more than you would assume that you can drive an automobile just any way you wish and be safe because of the structure surrounding you.  It is a car.  It isn’t safe.  Sitting still on your bar stool at home isn’t safe because it may fail and send you to the floor, bruising or even fracturing your pelvis.  It is a chair.  It isn’t safe.  If you have to climb ladders, you engage in one of the most unsafe practices in America, often fatal (or leading to TBI) for men over 55 years old from any height.

But weapons are safer when people use them responsibly than when they don’t.