Those Who Do Not Understand History...: The onslaught of the 24-hour A
Christmas Story marathon on cable television tomorrow raises an
interesting contemporary question: When is a Second Amendment-protected
firearm just a gun and when does it become a much bigger threat to
public safety? ...Your point is well taken. Even if you believe in an
interpretation that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to
gun ownership, the Amendment was written when muskets were not the
deadly products that are mass produced today. Now a mentally unstable
student can easily obtain two powerful handguns with multiple
high-capacity magazines and commit mass murder, such as the 32 students
and professors killed at Virginia Tech. As you said, a terrorist armed
with a .50 caliber sniper rifle could target a chemical or industrial
refinery in a horrific attack. Is this weapon a gun? I don't think so.
(First of all, British troops were horrified at how effectively the
rebellious colonists were able to snipe off the British officers because
so many of the colonists used rifles, which were much more accurate than
the smoothbore muskets in use by European armies. Secondly, while not
common, due to their expense, privately owned cannon, crew-served
weapons, did see militia duty in Colonial days and beyond.)
http://coloradoindependent.com/18303/youll-shoot-your-eye-out-talking-about-guns-at-christmastime?disqus_reply=4635657#comment-4635657
---
Concealed-Carry Permits in Wisconsin?: The Wisconsin Department of
Justice has issued 15 concealed-weapons permits to retired agents, the
only former state police officers to receive the privilege. Attorney
General J.B. Van Hollen said he hopes the decision will show other state
agencies they can do the same, as allowed under a 2004 federal law. But
most haven't issued permits because they say the state hasn't listed
consistent standards to do so. State agencies such as the State Patrol
and Capitol Police don't allow their retirees to carry concealed guns,
while a handful of local police and sheriff's offices do issue
permits... (This article is actually about the failure to provide the
required certification for most retired Wisconsin LEO's to qualify for
nationwide CCW under the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act
[
http://www.atf.gov/press/fy04press/072704lawenfsafteyact.htm]. The
federal law actually supersedes the department policy about carry by
retirees but, by failing to establish state standards or to provide
retirees the opportunity to "qualify" annually, states and agencies can
thwart the intent of the Act.)
http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/wis_ap_madison_concealed_carry_200812260629_rev1
---
Horrors, He Owned More Than One!: A small cache of weapons and
ammunition and the pants and sneakers that Plaxico Burress wore when he
accidentally shot himself last month have been seized from the home of
the New York Giants receiver, police said Wednesday. A 9-mm handgun, a
30.06-caliber rifle and ammunition, including a clip for a .45 gun, were
taken from Burress' home in Totowa, N.J., by authorities executing a
search warrant Tuesday afternoon, police said. Investigators are trying
to determine whether the weapons are registered, so it is unclear
whether Burress will face additional charges... (It's nice to live in a
state where there is no legal provision for the registration of firearms.)
http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2008/12/26/news/sports/20081226_sport_187711.txt
---
Don't Try This at Home: [These] photos are of a Sig Sauer Pro that was
left in an electric oven at 210�c / 400�f for 20 minutes by a French
police officer. After cleaning it he put it in to dry but was distracted
by a phone call... (Plastic polymers are divided into "thermoplastic,"
such as Kydex, which soften and can be reshaped when heated, and
"thermal-setting," which, once "set" are presumed to be stable when
heated. It's surprising to me that the SIG did not tolerate 400 degrees
Fahrenheit. In the US we have seen cases where people hid their pistols
in ovens and one or more rounds "cooked off" when the oven was lit. In
one case I recall, involving a Beretta 92, the magazine and grips stocks
were damaged as several of the rounds cooked off.)
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2008/12/22/sig-oven-bad-idea/
---
Pobre M�xico...: Last year, around 2,500 Mexicans died in the twin wars
drug cartels are waging against each other and against the Mexican
state, using weapons smuggled in from the United States. In the first 11
months of this year, the death toll was 5,367, according to the Mexican
attorney general. Next year? ...Weak Mexican border controls rarely
feature in official or academic reports on a problem that has prompted
some experts and U.S. publications to wonder whether Mexico is a
"failing state". That's the headline over a cover story on Mexico in the
latest edition of the business magazine Forbes. Mexican officials reject
the label. But privately, they concede that Mexican authorities are
doing a less-than-thorough job in searching and monitoring north-south
traffic. They tend to point in the other direction, to the easy
availability of guns in the United States, the armory of Mexico's
criminal mafias... (A popular quotation in Mexico translates as "Poor
Mexico! So far from God and so close to the United States." Mexico has a
long tradition of pointing fingers to the north, to divert attention
from the systematic rape of the nation by its own corrupt politicians
and functionaries. Full-auto AK-47's abound in the hands of Mexican drug
gangs; these are much more likely to have come in from the south than
the north, as does the cocaine that is trans-shipped to the US. Mexican
army armories contain virtually every modern firearm of potential
military use and the drug gangs routinely subvert members of that army.
How is infringing on the RKBA in the US going to deprive those gangsters
of firearms? At best, from Mexico's standpoint, it would only shift
their sources. Sorry for the rant but I grew up in that country.)
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2008/12/18/american-guns-and-the-war-next-door/
---
Tangentially Related: A new study predicts that reapportionment in 2010
will add House seats in red states. Of course, by extension, this means
the Electoral College will become slightly more favorable to GOP
candidates. I guess friendly tax and pro-growth policies (and warm
weather) eventually have political manifestations...
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/12/a_rare_bit_of_good_news_for_th.html
---
Slow News Day: For better or for worse, the relative lack of articles to
share today gave me space for more lengthy editorial comments than usual.
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
