Microstamping: Not Your Father's Second Amendment

PROLOGUE:
From February through July (with updates into December) 2008, we ran a series of articles on "Microstamping", as exemplified by Todd Lizotte's "Pie In The Sky" scheme to offer this unproven technology to  ... well, essentially, to states who wanted to so impede the ability for citizens to purchase firearms at an affordable price.  This series includes a Q&A email interview with the progenitor of the 'technology'; Todd Lizotte

(You can read the entire series here; unfortunately it is in reverse order by date, so the last is first.)

Recently, California decided to "Bite the Bullet".  (In this case .. to byte the casing, or the primer.)  In 2007. the California Assembly passed a law which required that all new firearms purchased in California "microstamp" unique data on the primer (via the firing pin) or on the face of the cartridge case (via the breech block) to identify the gun(s) which fired the bullet.

Never mind that the firing pin may be replaced by a generic model without the 'microstamping', or the slide; or that a casing which has been fired by many similarly 'microstamped' firearms may have overlapping imprints which preclude accurate identification of firearms similarly equipped.

(Note that while the primer is unique in each firing, firing pins which are legally required to carry the unique identifiers are prone to error; the cost of "replacement firing pins" bearing the same legally required identification is absurdly expensive and is prone to being 'avoided' by simple means.  Firing pins are "consumables", and cheap without microstampings; they may be readily purchased from outside the restrictive state without microstampings.) 

 Also, the casing may have been 'picked up' on the range and may thus carry multiple microstampings .. each of which might overstamp each other, rendering the stampings unreadable.  Also, a criminal will simply pick up his brass at the scene of a crime.  If the firearms is a revolver, the microstamping requirement does not apply.)

Gun Control is Bullshit!

Penn & Teller: Bullshit! - Gun Control - YouTube:

Published on Dec 16, 2012 Penn & Teller Commentary

(NSFW!)
[F-bomb ... well, you know, it's Penn Jillette!)

Tongue-tied; and "Gun Industry Blood Money"

Gun Owners of America | Facebook:
Gun Owners of America GOA's Larry Pratt leaves MSNBC host tongue-tied

(H/T David Codrea and Gun Owners of America)

There are SO many quotable quotes here, I'm not even going to try to cite them here.  You must go watch-the-whole-thing.  This is perhaps the most productive interview that Larry Pratt has ever given.  He was entirely on-point during the too-short episode.  Including that:

• ... George Washington understood that citizens must have access to firearms available
• ... matching firearms currently available to the military
• ... and citizens have the right to use firearms to protect themselves from both personal assault
• ... and to protect themselves against their own government
• ... and that the Second Amendment Rights are equivalent to the First Amendment rights!

Any argument about the first two amendments to the Constitution must be taken hand-in-hand.

The First Amendment has been ruled by the Supreme Court to include speech which was not available to Americans in the 18th Century, including email and the Internet in general.

These speech platforms were not available in the 18th Century, but the Supreme Court has held that freedom of speech extends to all currently extent speech platforms.

Since the First and the Second Amendments specifically speak to individual rights, many rulings on the 1st Amendment apply equally to the 2nd Amendment.  (The third to the tenth amendments generally apply to impositions of the government upon its citizens.)

When Pratt changed the direction of the dialogue, and began speaking of the First Amendment Rights, the moderator interrupted him:  "You mean the Second Amendment."

Pratt replied forcefully:  "No, I mean the First Amendment!"

That simple statement, equating the two Amendments, completely changed the dialogue.  Neither the Moderator nor the Opponent knew how to respond to the realization that individual rights were equivalent.  And so the discussion was terminated before anyone had a chance to respond to the canard about "Gun Industry Blood Money".

I'm loving it, when the mild-mannered Pratt brings opponents to their knees.

In the background, if you listen closely, you can hear "the lamentations of their women".

Suspicions Confirmed

Gun deaths are exaggerated by the media:

In 2012, the U.S. was No. 3 on the world list in gun deaths. Remove the numbers from four Democrat-controlled U.S. cities with draconian anti-gun laws (Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans and Washington, D.C.), and the U.S. falls to fourth from the bottom.

I'm not surprised to hear this about Chicago, Detroit and DC; but New Orleans?

I had no idea.

That they are all Democrat Enclaves ... well, most metropolitan areas are Democrat-controlled.

That's where the Welfare Mothers live.   That's were the drug gangs live.

Metal Storm

Deadliest weapons ever invented- Metal Storm - YouTube:

Uploaded on Dec 22, 2009 Discovery Channel owns this video Category Science &Technology  

Chicago -- 8 wounded in separate city-wide shootings

8 wounded in separate city-wide shootings - chicagotribune.com:

A 14-year-old boy is the youngest of at least 8 people shot across the city Tuesday afternoon. 

Police said the shooting, which stems from an ongoing gang conflict in the Marquette Park neighborhood, happened about 6:40 p.m. 

The boy was approached by two others in the 7300 block of South Maplewood Avenue. The two asked him if he had marijuana before firing at him. They shot “multiple times” and hit him once in the arm, police said. The boy was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in good condition. \ 

The seven others wounded ranged in age from 18 to 56 and were shot as far north as Logan Square and as far south as Roseland. 

The latest shooting happened at about 7:31 p.m. on the 1700 block of 71st Street in the West Englewood neighborhood.In that shooting, a 23-year-old man suffered a wound to his leg and was being treated on the scene as of 8:10 p.m., said police.

Chicago ... again.

You're tired of hearing about Chicago Shootings, aren't you?.  I know I am.

When are we going to read that there were NO shootings in Chicago, for ... like .. a whole week?

Now, that would be a "Man Bites Dog" article which is worth writing about.

In the meantime,  Liberal commentators continue to talk about "GUNS ARE THE PROBLEM!", instead of talking about the factors which truly promote violence.

• Families without Fathers
• Drugs
• The Society of Violence
• The "Make Your Bones" imperative in Ghetto Communities
• oh hell, the whole "Ghetto" thing!

Gun violence isn't about Guns; it's about Violence.  When the Libs "get" that, their whole message will change.

I know ... ain't gonna happen.  It's not conservative values which promote violence in a fatherless community ... it's liberal values that ignore the core issues of poverty, disenfranchisement, and "what it takes to be A Man".

“The Scene Had a Problem, and the Problem Was the Gun.”

Never Yet Melted 
 “The Scene Had a Problem, and the Problem Was the Gun.”:
24 APR 2014

Isn't it always "The Gun"?

Sometimes ... it's not the fact of the gun, but the dimensions.

(Hat Tip to .. well, you know)

Wayne LaPierre To Announce He's Breaking Up The NRA

Wayne LaPierre To Announce He's Breaking Up The NRA - Misfires And Light Strikes:
(April 22, 2014)

Faced with overwhelming and relentless opposition from Michael Bloomberg’s grassroots “Every Town For Gun Safety”, Wayne LaPierre will announce that he’s disbanding the National Rifle Association at the conclusion of this week’s NRA Annual Meeting in Indianapolis.

“Look, everyone”, Wayne said at a press conference today, “We gave it a good run, but it’s over. We just can’t win against the dozens of people who have joined Michael Bloomberg on his new crusade. I mean, have you seen what they’re doing on social media to show how they can get people involved in gun safety and educate people about the realities of firearms? The NRA just can’t compete with that kind of know-how, so it’s time to call it a day and go home.”

 Michael Bloomberg was busy purchasing the entire state of Rhode Island as a location for his new mansion and was unavailable for comment.

[emphasis added]
(April Fools' Day came late this year)

Drinkin’ and gunnin’

Oklahoma Gazette Chicken Fried News: Drinkin’ and gunnin’:

Darwinism at it's finest!

Because some of Oklahoma’s finest contributions to the advancement of human civilization have started with the words, “Hold my beer and watch this,” an Oklahoma City gun range has taken the steps necessary to be the first gun range to serve liquor by the drink.
 According to a report on Fox News, Wilshire Gun has plans to have firearms lanes, archery lanes, classrooms and a VIP lounge, making it the first of its kind in Oklahoma.
 According to the same news brief, Jeff Swanson, the owner, has said, “This is where the shooting sport is headed.”
 He’ll need to be careful when guests hit the lanes and then the lounge, and not the other way around.
Because that way, Okies, lies madness. And perhaps a Darwin Award

[emphasis added]

"This is where the shooting sport is headed"?
( I most sincerely hope not! )

I am against it.  Remind me to not travel to Oklahoma for a match this year.

Next year?

No problem.  All the trouble-makers will be dead.

Heinlein

I was determined to clean out my garage last week, and I was making remarkable progress until I ran across an old printer-paper box on the top shelf, marked "HEINLEIN".

In it, I found 33 paperback novels, all written by Robert A. Heinlein, "The Dean of Science Fiction".

Need I mention that the garage is still a cluttered mess?  And so is my bedroom, as there are 33 paperback novels by Heinlein, sitting on the floor ... 25 of them yet to be read.

Oh, the frabjuous joys of Retirement!  I can read all I want, and I have.  Three books a day, about 200 pages (paperback format) each, means I can read three books a day -- six hours total --  and I only need to worry what to read after the 11 scheduled days I've put aside for 'catching up' on books I haven't read for 30 years.

To my chagrin, I went right to my favorites the first day.  "Tunnel in the Sky", "Space Cadet", and "Have Space Suit, Will Travel".

I'm holding off on "Podkayne of Mars" and "Starship Troopers", and "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" because ... hey, I'm not some SF Junky!  (Besides, they were written ca 1963, and I've decided to sort them into copyright-date order and read them in the sequence they were written.  More or less.

Okay, I read "The Star Beast" out of order, too.  So sue me.   Discovery Day was a long one, reading 4 books.

The first book in the series (I won't bore you with titles from now on) was an anthologies; the first story there was written in 1939.  I'm tempted to list all of the 'inventions' that Heinlein predicted decades before their actual denoument, but I'll limit myself to cell phones and Skype ... both described with fair accuracy in 1939.

Heinlein was careful to state that he wasn't making "predictions" ... and those which he DID make he assigned 'reasonable' timelines.  For example, in 1941 he predicted that man would walk on the moon by 1978.  Very close .. but we beat him by ten years.

On the other hand?

1980 ... rocket ships between solar planets.  Boo, I was wanting to be like D.D. Harriman and die on the moon by now!

However, he DID predict that there would be a hiatus in 'rocketry' in the 1980's, due to cultural upheavals.  Witness Obama's defunding of NASA last year; who would have predicted that kind of Change?

A lot of the stories that R.A.F. wrote were for Boy's Life Magazine, so these early books are called his 'juveniles'.  I suppose it's significant that I enjoy them so much; many, if most of his heroes are teenage boys  (see "Tunnel in the Sky") who achieve much during their adolescence.  And even his mature male protagonist (Harriman in "The Man Who Sold The Moon") have never been able to allow their childhood dreams to be thwarted by the Adult pastimes of making millions in business.

We won't address "Lazarus Long" here, except to mention the expertise with which Heinlein managed to seque into a Timeline Which Would Not Die.

(If you don't "Grok" the cultural reference, you're probably not interested in this theme anyway.  And if you do ... I don't need to explain.)

Finish:  I have the books, you don't, and they're in such bad condition that I am NOT going to loan them to you.

But they're still readable, for those who appreciate the joys of a favorite author rediscovered.

Crazy Carry

Open Carry, Concealed Carry and Crazy Carry - Bloomberg View:
(April 22, 2014)

I often focus on the dangers of reckless people with guns, rather than criminals with guns, for two reasons. First, reckless people seem very plentiful. Second, they are invariably ignored in gun-rights rhetoric. The gun-rights movement advances a Manichean vision of criminals and "law-abiding citizens," with the latter always and everywhere in need of heavy firepower to defeat the former.

National Rifle Association Chief Executive Officer Wayne LaPierre's rhetoric about criminals -- "so deranged, so evil, so possessed by voices and driven by demons" -- is basically pornographic at its peaks. But LaPierre is silent about the legion of gun-toting clods, bumblers, stoners, wife-beaters, fools and drunks who kill, or injure, Americans every day. (Once in possession of a gun, you don't need to be actively stupid to produce tragedy; you can be passively stupid.)

A dialogue between a bloombergview.com commentator (By Francis Wilkinson   and John Pierce, co-founder of OpenCarry.org)

A surprisingly 'balanced' discussion.  Since Wilkerson, the author (and an apparent Bloomberg supporter) seems to have presented both sides of the conversation, I'm pleasantly surprised that he has resisted the temptation to bowdlerize the exchange.

It's not that long.  Go, read the whole thing.

"Oh, Sorry About That"

US homeowner Byron David Smith heard taunting dying teens in audio of killings | News.com.au:

(April 23, 2014)

A HOMEOWNER can be heard calmly telling a teenage girl “oh, sorry about that” and calling her “bitch” as he shot her and another unarmed teen dead after they broke into his house.
Byron David Smith, 64, is on trial for the murder of 18-year-old Haile Kifer and her 17-year-old cousin Nicholas Brady on thanksgiving two years ago.
Smith had fitted his home in Little Falls, Minnesota, with recording devices after repeated break-ins. According to the Minnesota Star Tribune , the devices captured the chilling audio of the teens’ killings.
The paper said the crystal clear recordings were played to the court. On them glass is heard breaking then two shots then a groan from Brady followed by another gunshot and Smith saying, “You’re dead”.
Smith is then heard moving Brady’s body to a workshop, to keep him from staining the basement carpet, as he later told authorities. Some minutes later Kifer can be heard whispering, “Nick”. There are more gunshots and then the sound of Kifer falling. Smith says, “Oh, sorry about that.”
Kifer can be heard screaming, “Oh my god! Oh”. Smith then responds, “You’re dying,” and after more gunshots, “Bitch.”

The Castle Doctrine?

Or murder?

Proof that Concealed Carry permit holders live in a dream world, - VPC

Proof that Concealed Carry permit holders live in a dream world, Part One - YouTube:

Uploaded on Apr 21, 2010

The controlled study documented in these videos show that concealed carry permit holders are fooling themselves if they think they will be able to react effectively to armed aggressors. Most CCW holders won't even be able to un-holster their gun. They will more likely be killed themselves or kill innocent bystanders than stop the aggressor. For more details, see "Unintended Consequences: Pro-Handgun Experts Prove That Handguns Are a Dangerous Choice for Self-Defense."
http://www.vpc.org/studies/unincont.htm.
 CCW permit holders don't protect innocent people. They kill them.
Category News; Politics

Part 2:

The controlled study documented in these videos show that concealed carry permit holders are fooling themselves if they think they will be able to react effectively to armed aggressors. Most CCW holders won't even be able to un-holster their gun. They will more likely be killed themselves or kill innocent bystanders than stop the aggressor. For more details, see "Unintended Consequences: Pro-Handgun Experts Prove That Handguns Are a Dangerous Choice for Self-Defense."

Bring back Clean Nuclear Energy?

Energy Plant in Oregon Burning Aborted Babies From Canada to Generate Electricity | LifeNews.com:
(April 23, 2014)

An energy plant in Oregon is reportedly burning aborted babies from Canada to generate electricity. UPDATE: Local officials say they will stop the practice while they look into the situation. Following the LifeNews story below that received national attention, the Marion County Board of Commissioners issued the following statement:
Today the Marion County Board of Commissioners learned that the Covanta Waste-to-Energy Facility located in Marion County may be accepting medical waste containing human tissue from outside sources. In response to an April 21 article in The B.C Catholic, the board took immediate action to temporarily halt the acceptance of boxed medical waste at the facility.

This hits too close to home.


[update 5/1/15 - featured in SNOPES]

Drink Out; Dust In

Feds approve the sale of powdered alcohol | Fox News:

Ever tried to transport a bottle of alcohol only to give up because it was too heavy or it broke? Meet your new best beverage friend: powdered booze.

A patent for Palcohol has now been approved by the Treasury Department, reports Lehrman’s Beverage Law.

According to the product website, Palcohol is expected to launch this fall. Six versions are on tap to be released including a Vodka flavor that has been distilled four times, a plain rum powder, and four cocktail powers – Cosmopolitan, Mojito, Powderita (Margarita), and Lemon Drop. All you need is a little water to get the party started.

 The product is gluten free and has about... (obscured in the original article.

 The site is even touting its potential as a condiment, right up there with salt, pepper, and a little Parmesan cheese. This is from their website, according to Lehrman: ...

Pack it in your pocket, along with your grass.   The good news is, there's no distinctive aroma to give you away at the Football Game!

"Better Living Through Chemistry"

Chicago gang shootings go on as Mayor Emanuel boasts crime at 'record low'

Chicago gang shootings go on as Mayor Emanuel boasts crime at 'record low' | World news | theguardian.com:

The gap between Gakirah Barnes’s front teeth when she smiled, whether she was celebrating on the basketball court or messing around with friends, made her look even younger than the 17 years she spent in south Chicago before being shot to death last weekend. 

“At least I don’t have to constantly worry about what’s going to happen to her out on the street no more,” said her mother, Shontell Brown, who wept as she inspected the cemetery plot where Gakirah will be buried on Monday. Her father, who was gunned down on her first Easter Sunday, lies nearby. Her twin brother, who saw his best friend murdered in 2011, will be at the funeral. 

Though mourned as a victim by her family and her girlfriend, Gakirah – one of five Chicagoans killed and 36 wounded over the city’s warmest and bloodiest weekend of the year so far – was, according to police and neighbourhood  (sic) sources, also part of the problem: a hip-hop-fuelled gang war that is raging even as Mayor Rahm Emanuel boasts that crime is at a record low.

Gakirah Barnes was shot 9 times while she was chatting on the front stoop with a friend .. who was not injured and obviously not the target.

There are two issues here:

1. WHY are children still being murdered in Chicago; and
2. WHY does Rahm Emanuel insisting that crime is at a "Record Low"?

(Yes, I'm picking on Chicago again.  As my Daddy told me: "Always take the easy ones first".  And besides, The Brits have done nothing equally as egregious ... lately.)

Flying With Guns: Things are much different today

Editorial: Guns discovered at airport checkpoints on the rise | The Herald-Dispatch:
(Apr. 18, 2014 @ 12:00 AM)

 Some readers may have been surprised to read that a loaded .32-caliber handgun was confiscated from a woman's carry-on luggage at Tri-State Airport in Ceredo this week. Passenger screening for commercial air travel has been in place since the 1970s, and with the increased airport security since 9/11, Transportation Security Administration officers search through bags for pocket knives or anything remotely resembling a weapon. 
How do you miss that memo? 
But believe it or not, the number of guns detected at checkpoints across the nation is on the rise, the TSA reports. The agency's officers found 1,813 firearms in carry-on bags in 2013, up 16.5 percent from the year before. More than 80 percent were loaded.

We've talked about this before.

Frankly, I can't understand how you can 'forget' that you have a gun in your baggage.  No more can I understand how that isn't the most important thing.

It's not the Twin Towers, but ...

New drone strike in Yemen kills 55 Al Qaeda militants | Fox News:
(April 21, 2014)

A suspected U.S. drone strike in southern Yemen killed 55 militants Monday, in the third deadly attack on an Al Qaeda training camp in the area in several days. Yemen's interior ministry says among those killed in an hours-long campaign of strikes on the camp in the rugged mountains of Mahfad between Abyan, Shabwa and al-Bayda provinces were three senior members of Al Qaeda. The ministry said the identification process for those killed is ongoing.

It's not the Twin Towers, but it's a good start.

I hope THIS was not the same strike!