Archive for the 'Guns' Category

The Blaze:

A Oregon-based gun maker said Thursday that it has been blocked from processing credit card transactions by its long-standing credit card company, and believes it is the latest victim of the Obama administration’s “Operation Choke Point.”

The Obama administration has said Choke Point lets the Departments of Justice and Treasury crack down on illegal businesses by blocking their access to banks and other parts of the U.S. financial system.

Calico Light Weapons Systems believes it is the latest victim of the administration’s overreach. In a statement released Thursday, Chris Holmgren, the company’s owner, says he was unexpectedly warned in mid-July that his credit card processor would have to close his account due to “illegal activities.”

Firearms producers are prohibited by law from selling guns over the Internet. But Holmgren says his company does not sell guns online, and only sells certain parts.

“The [credit card] company thought that I sold firearms over the Internet, which I do not,” he said. “My company only sells parts online, like screws, washers, and other soft goods.”

After several phone calls to his credit card processor, Intuit Merchant Service, Holmgren was told a “policy change” related to “illegal activities” is what was forcing Intuit to close Calico’s account.

Holmgren said that his company later indicated it would re-open his account, but said this has not happened yet.

“I am certain that this is the work of Operation Choke Point, and that my company was targeted because it is considered a ‘high risk’ by the Department of Justice and FDIC, even though we do nothing illegal,” he said.

First of all, to all of the idiots who think it’s illegal to sell guns online, let’s deal with this once and for all.  It’s not illegal to sell guns online.  Got it?  Guns can be purchased and sent to anyone who can successfully complete form 4473, done at the time of receipt at the FFL to whom the gun is shipped.  So let’s stomp that red herring into the ground please.

Second, let’s please end the unconstitutional thuggery of targeting law abiding businessmen with the power of the government because those currently in power happen to dislike the business.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think that Obama and Holder were a bunch of evil, totalitarian, collectivist, communist members of a criminal cartel from Chicago.

Prior: Sun Trust Bank Implementing Operation Choke Point

David links a comment on his piece at Guns Magazine:

Sorry but like many have already said, you should know the laws of the states you travel through. Even as a sheriff’s officer when I go to another state on personal business I call ahead to the town I am going to and ask if there are any laws I need to know about, or if I should just leave my gun home. Pennsylvanians aren’t very smart to begin with, so I am not surprised by this story. I don’t think she should do time in jail, but a nice heavy fine would work. What the hell do you need hollow points for in the first place? You planning on shooting a cop through a vest?

First of all, personal defense ammunition doesn’t penetrate soft body armor (Kevlar).  Even FMJ or MC ammunition (ball ammo) doesn’t penetrate soft body armor unless it’s high velocity like 5.7 X 28.  Second, HR 218 allows sworn LEOs to carry weapons across state lines regardless of any other considerations (not that it should if our rights aren’t similarly recognized).  I doubt that the commenter is a LEO.  That would make the person a liar.

David Codrea:

How the gun owner community will react to the merger remains to be seen. At this writing, it does not appear those opposed to the acquisition are doing anything other than expressing strengthened resolve, while those intent on helping JPFO through the transition remain hopeful. Based on interest expressed in limited venues where the development is being discussed, it appears many are either unaware or else unconcerned.

So it’s a done deal.  You know my views on this.  I don’t have relationships with corporations.  I do with people.  I’ll wait until David and Kurt tell me their experiences with this arrangement.  I’m in a holding pattern and will continue to link those individuals to whom I’m committed.  I have no commitment to organizations.

More on the vulnerability of the electrical grid.  You do understand, don’t you, who was first to discuss the vulnerability of the larger step up transformers (nearly four years ago now), and who (Bob Owens) was first to discuss the vulnerability of the smaller, lower voltage infrastructure?  And we didn’t even get paid for it.

Via Reason, there is this great report from CCTV America:

Since the Islamic State made its push into northern Iraq, questions of safety have emerged. Some Kurds are preparing to leave their jobs and fight with the peshmerga military, while others simply want to arm themselves for protection. They both can go to the same place: a bazaar tucked away outside the city of Erbil.

I don’t know if the Christian community is among those who intend to “weapon up” like I’ve recommended, but it’s good to see at least some of the folk responding like the situation demands.

As a sidebar comment, I see no revolvers, and what I suspect is a lot of 9mm handguns, along with AK and AK-variants (so probably along with availability of 9mm and 7.62X39 ammunition, but no .45, .38, .308, 7.62X51, or 5.56 mm).  Why these shooters prefer to have long guns with their butt stocks removed is completely beyond me.

Upon watching this report it occurred to me to do a quick search of ISIS and gun control.  Sure enough, this turned up for the rules implemented by ISIS upon capture of new territory.

“No drugs, no alcohol and no cigarettes allowed,” it added.

No public gathering other than those organised by ISIS will be allowed at any stage. No guns will be allowed outside of its ranks.

Statists and totalitarians are the same the world over.  Guns for me, but not for thee.

David Codrea:

New Jersey is going full bore to prosecute a lawbreaker arrested for possessing a handgun loaded with hollowpoint ammunition in violation of state law. Evidently this person is so dangerous that entry into a diversionary program is off the table, and instead, a mandatory minimum 3-year prison sentence will be imposed if a felony conviction is obtained, something that seems probable at this writing … How that will benefit the people of New Jersey is unclear.

It won’t benefit the people of New Jersey.  This poor woman is being prosecuted for the same reason that Sergeant Tahmooressi is left to rot in a Mexican prison by U.S. authorities.  The people of New Jersey don’t care any more about women trying to defend their loved ones than the authorities care about the U.S. Marines.  It’s all about guns, which in turn is all about control.

Via David, there is this from Virginia democrat Mike Dickenson:

Let us pray to god that he infects all members of the @nra with Ebola so they can meet a miserable end, as so many have at the hands of guns

This is an imprecatory prayer.  He’d better be careful.  I’ve prayed such things, once when the subject of my prayer soon contracted cancer and lost his job (Senator Arlen Specter).  But if your heart is dark or you don’t have the mind of God in such matters, you may bear the brunt of your prayers.

Kurt Hofmann:

Frum, MacGillis and Horwitz would have us believe that cops will continue to morph into storm troopers unless and until we the people submit to further forcible citizen disarmament laws, that we must choose between being “policed” by an army of enforcers indoctrinated to think of the people (the same people they used to claim to “protect and serve”) as enemies; or we must surrender those arms best suited to protection against those who would destroy or oppress us–including out-of-control police. That sounds rather a lot like extortion, and is also a false choice.

The collectivists want it to be a Hobson’s choice.  But since we aren’t part of the collective, we mustn’t make any choice at all, except to fulfill the duty to protect ourselves and our families (and tribes).

This picture from Mike Vanderboegh is worth much more than a thousand words.  I stared at the screen today looking at that picture for about ten minutes.  Burn it into your memory.  Don’t ever forget it.

In other news, Al Franken is a loathsome, awful man.

The following year, in 2005, the radio hosts Opie & Anthony played the interview before they welcomed Franken on their XM radio show. The old Franken explains his 2004 interview: “There were a couple guys, and one was smarter than the other,” he said. “There were actually two guys, I think they’re both Down Syndrome, and one actually made a lot of sense. . . . We stayed with each other . . . and then the other guy made no sense.” Prompted by his politically incorrect hosts, he laughs about the use of the term “genetic disaster” to refer to the mentally retarded.

May God give him his due recompense for his bigotry and hatred of the very ones whom God says to protect and love.  Shameful.

Greenville News:

Marina Lambrou, owner of the Boston Pizzeria on Woodruff Road, said she knew some of her customers had permits to carry concealed weapons before the law changed in February to allow permit holders to take their guns into establishments that serve alcohol.

Lambrou chose not to prohibit guns, and she said the issue hasn’t been a problem.

“I don’t prohibit and I don’t encourage it,” she told The Greenville News. “I just feel this is a free nation, and if someone feels like they need the extra protection, then God willing, let them do it.”

State law enforcement and restaurant officials say they know of no problems since the law went into effect seven months ago. The law allows permit holders to take guns into places that serve alcohol but allows businesses to prohibit guns and doesn’t allow permit holders to consume alcohol.

Erin Dando, leader of the South Carolina Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a gun reform group, said more businesses would prohibit guns but the new law requires the signs banning guns be 8 by 12 inches with 1-inch lettering.

“Frankly, the size requirement is alarming for business owners and it’s prevented some from putting them up,” she said. She said one business that has posted a sign has heard negative feedback from members of a gun rights organization.

Gun owners said on The Greenville News‘ Facebook page they are voting with their feet if restaurants choose to ban weapons.

“Only a couple of the restaurants where I have eaten decided to post signs after the new law went into effect,” posted Stephen Combs. “Their food wasn’t exceptional enough for me to feel the need to disarm and patronize them.”

“If there have been any incidents, I’m not aware of them,” said Jerrod Bruder, executive director of the South Carolina Sheriffs Association.

He said the organization’s concerns about the changes in the law had to do with training and education. The new law still requires training of permit holders but has dropped the number of mandatory hours of training.

Thom Berry, a spokesman for the State Law Enforcement Division, said he wasn’t aware of any incidents involving concealed weapons permit holders and businesses that serve alcohol under the new law.

Sgt. Jennings Autrey, a spokesman for the Greenville County Sheriff’s office, also said he wasn’t aware of any such incidents.

Board members of the South Carolina Restaurant and Hotel Association said they think the new law hasn’t produced any problems.

My goodness.  Is that what we have to do to make an informative news report?  Ask everyone and their cousin too about it?  How about my dog?  Wonder what Heidi thinks about it?  Does she know of any issues resulting from the law?

No, there aren’t any issues.  There won’t be with concealed carriers, and the next step is to get open carry passed in South Carolina, over the objections and opposition of communist State Senator Larry Martin.  Martin opposed recent attempts at legalization of open carry in S.C. because those horrible Negros down around Charleston might open carry and thus affect the tourism industry in South Carolina.  Yes.  Seriously.  Really.  I wouldn’t be able to make this up if I tried.  That’s why he opposed open carry.

But open carry worked as well in Mississippi as I said it would.  My readers in South Carolina might want to tell Larry what you think about him – one way or another.

David Codrea:

An Ohio woman used her lawfully-carried handgun to prevent a pair of men armed with a baseball bat from abducting her, WBNS 10TV Columbus reported Friday. Per the account Dinah Burns of Lancaster gave to the police and to reporter Jeff Valin, producing her concealed handgun induced the men to stop approaching her and flee.

[ … ]

Not, as colleague Kurt Hofmann noted in a recent JPFO Alert, rights should be dependent on such number-crunching – but what is significant here is the antis always couch that argument by saying more people are killed with guns than kill their assailants with guns. Those who do are intentionally steering the conversation away from the relevant argument. That’s because, as this incident reflects, good people often resolve such situations with the mere presentation of a gun, without firing a shot.

Besides, statistics only matter when you consider yourself part of the collective and subsume your rights under the umbrella of whatever is best for the collective, decided, of course, by the rulers.  As for the woman, good for her, although I would have shot enough times to kill the would-be assailant.

Via Say Uncle, here is Hunter the no-hands shooter.

Here is his Facebook page, and more about him.  Okay, I promise never to complain about anything at the range ever again, except when someone muzzle flags me.

Apparently, British writers haven’t been beaten on enough (I am seeing a lot less of this among American writers).  Someone tell this writer that there is no such thing as a semi-automatic assault rifle.

The shirtless, homoerotic megalomaniac has boasted that he could take Kiev in two weeks.  Well, here’s a prediction short boy.  Try it.  I say that occupation and the resultant insurgency would be your worst nightmare.

David Codrea:

The group, which has not endorsed Republican challenger Tom Foley at this writing, understands he is a far cry from a perfect candidate on guns. The choice they face is to decide which of their two options available to them — allowing a committed gun-banner to re-secure political power without significant opposition, or sending a message to anti-gun politicians that there is a price for undermining rights by supporting a moderate — is preferable.

This is the question we all face in so many upcoming elections, isn’t it?  I’m not a single issue voter, but if I look first to a candidate’s position on guns, I’m generally able to find out in short order whether they are progressive or constitutional.  Whatever else one might think, Connecticut is a rough place to be if you believe in the constitution.

Kurt Hofmann:

John Lott, Gary Kleck, and others are noted researchers, vastly more knowledgeable about statistical analysis than I will ever be, and have sold a great many books trying to provide that proof, or at least compelling evidence–and frankly, I don’t really care.

I don’t care because fundamental human rights–and the right to self-defense must be seen by any rational, ethical person as chief among those–cannot legitimately be held hostage to a requirement for a favorable statistical outcome.

Good for Kurt.  Statistical outcomes.  It’s the same way the collectivists argue when they tell you facts and figures about how it is more likely that you’ll commit suicide than ever use a gun in self defense.  First of all, I doubt those “facts,” and second, I don’t care what the collective does with weapons.  I’m not the collective.

From Matt Bracken.  All they’ve done is provide me with a target-rich environment.  Double tap — double tap — double tap — etc., reload, repeat.

I have previously attempted to explain and rebuke the pacifist sickness that affects the Christian Church, but it seems that the examples of said sickness are sadly numerous and still surfacing.  Apparently, many Christian leaders would rather see their parishioners and congregants beheaded than defended.

But sadly, they won’t.  They have waited too late to “weapon up.”  And witness what happens without self defense.  Pat Dollard links a Live Leak video in which ISIS fighters promise a “Christian” (I have no idea if he really was a Christian) converting to Islam that Allah is merciful and he will be spared.  The man converts, and the ISIS fighters promptly behead him anyway.

There is one thing in particular that needs to be corrected in the perspective cited above, and it is that “The first duty of the state is to protect the people, but if the state is unable to fulfil this, then the right to defend oneself reverts to the person, because such a right cannot ever be taken from that person …”

No, and a thousand times no.  It is not either-or, it is both-and, and the order is wrong.  The state is responsible, to be sure, for protecting nations against invasion, and our pitiful nation refuses to meet even the simplest of responsibilities like this by securing the Southern border.

But let’s be clear.  The first duty to protect rests with a man and his home, not the state protection for the man or his family.

Do you understand?

David Codrea:

“I know Gillespie and I will not support him or vote for him,” a frequent correspondent active in Virginia Second Amendment promotion and support told me. Part of that may be due to Gillespie’s refusal to personally commit to the issue, as illustrated by his failure to return a Virginia Citizens Defense League Candidate Survey. Part of it may be due to his consummate insider loyalties to the GOP establishment as a former Bush White House staffer and head of the RNC. Part of it may be that he established a “bipartisan” lobbying firm with a Democrat partner, and a former White House Counsel to Bill Clinton at that. And the big part is that there was a better candidate that the establishment did not want..

Another survey Gillespie failed to answer is the one on immigration put out by Numbers USA, where he rates “indecisive” on the question of amnesty for illegal aliens …

Read the rest of David’s analysis.  When I see that there was a so-called “tea party” candidate running against an establishment candidate, and the establishment brought in the power brokers and dollars to run the tea party candidate out of the race, I won’t go to the polls on election day to vote for the establishment candidate.  Thus, I will not be voting for Thom Tillis in my own state.

This is entirely a personal choice, and I am not advocating that you make it too.  I’m saying that I’m not a prostitute and won’t whore my vote out to the highest bidder (or in this case, the least progressive candidate).

Dave Workman:

Contrary to what the gun prohibition lobby would have the public believe, the firearms community is hardly a monolithic voting bloc that thinks and talks alike on every issue. Gun owners argue amongst themselves about all manner of subjects, and the disagreements can get downright brutal. Such can certainly be said about the past 72 hours with the discussion and debate over the JPFO/SAF controversy.

And I’m sure there will be more to come.  My expectation is that good folk who work for JPFO will keep us informed of the vicissitudes of their labors there.

Kurt Hofmann:

Both Reid and Horsford appear to be arguing that the fact that sometimes law enforcement agencies do indeed abuse the power of certain firearms should not mean that agencies that do not engage in such abuses be forced to get by with lesser guns. Does the same logic somehow not apply to the rest of us?

Of course not.  Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds, and Reid certainly has a small mind.  I suspect he is thinking about how his jack booted thugs at the BLM were stood down by boys toting rifles that looked the same as his thugs.  Awe … did your son not get rich selling out America to Chinese business partners because of AR-15s, Harry?

I ran across this fairly informative podcast late last week.  If you want to listen to it I encourage you to do so.  It is just short of twenty minutes.  If not, I will summarize for you.

The law passed several years ago in California forced all new firearms to be microstamped with laser etching right at the time of firing, with spent cartridge casings showing the serial number of the firearm used – ridiculous technology that no professional engineer would seal (this is my judgment, not that of the podcast).  It would be too expensive, it wouldn’t last, and it would be subject to removal by anyone.

The law stipulated that the law becomes effective when the attorney general deems that the technology exists.  The attorney general of California is a liar because she deems the technology to exist even though it doesn’t.  Therefore, all new firearms sold in California must include this technology which doesn’t exist.

Here is the operative phrase: new firearm.  Gun makers can continue to sell existing firearms if they have previously been approved by California, including the silly limited capacity magazine.  But because a new firearms is defined as any firearm that has had any change at all made (part tolerance, alloy specification, gun color, etc.), and because even small changes routinely made by manufacturers would be included in that list and necessarily involve approval which included microstamping (which doesn’t exist), gun manufacturers are no longer selling guns in California.

We’ve discussed this before in slightly less detail, and noted that Smith & Wesson will continue to sell to law enforcement (or at least, they won’t commit to me that they won’t), thus providing weapons to LEOs that other citizens can’t have.

You can let Smith & Wesson know how you feel about this.  I have.  At the same time, remind them that it is way past time to remove themselves from the communist state in which they are ensconced and come South like most other gun manufacturers.

Their customer base is watching – carefully.

Ms. Elizabeth Sharp, VP of Investor Relations (Lsharp@smith-wesson.com)