Tag: guns

Sounds of Guns

We were speaking last month about the noise made by guns and gun ranges. I got to talking with Older Son about the noise from the range, and we ended up talking about the sounds of guns that we hear at home. Both of us hear guns from time to time. Our responses to the sound are very different from one place to the other.

My house is out past the suburbs, in what we laughingly call the “ru-burbs.” We are in a subdivision, but it is a subdivision in which the smallest lots have 3 acres and some lots have 5, 6 or even 10 acres. The neighborhood is people who wanted “elbow room,” but did not want to go many miles out in the countryside and away from suburban conveniences. We are four miles from the nearest business but only five miles from supermarket and a dozen restaurants. I think about half of the families with kids are homeschoolers here. It is nice to live in a neighborhood with a lot of free-range kids.... [Read More]

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A Field Guide to Handgun Calibers

I’ve been working on a couple of things recently — shooting guns, playing piano, and cooking.  Semiautomatic handguns are available with a profusion of ammo choices, so I thought I’d take a moment to clear this all up.

In a way, a gun is just one more communication channel opened between two people.  Let’s take a look at what your choice of caliber says to the person who lost the coin toss and will now receive:... [Read More]

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Bernard Goetz — Remember Him?

Bernard Goetz shot a number of men who had cornered him on a train.  Race, class, education; all of the zeitgeist hot buttons were at play.  We’ve spent nearly forty years hearing A) nothing or B) condemnation of Goetz.  Those who lived through the coverage at the time (me), who were old enough to really consider the arguments at play (me, not so much), and who at any rate were paying attention (definitely not me) will probably have a different memory of the thing than those who have learned of it more recently, or less directly.

Bernard Goetz insisted on testifying/confessing because he wanted to make his argument.... [Read More]

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I want a bazooka

Robert Francis O’Rourke has been making repeal of the Second Amendment the centerpiece of his floundering campaign for the Democratic Party nomination.   Here is a recent tweet:

A woman in CO told me “hell no” she won’t give back her AR-15.

I listened, but by her logic: Why shouldn’t you be allowed to have a bazooka or a tank?

Continue reading “I want a bazooka”

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Defense Distributed Declaration

In the ongoing litigation between Defense Distributed and state attorneys general over the distribution of three-dimensional models of firearms and components thereof over the Internet (which has been approved by all federal regulatory agencies), I was asked to submit an affidavit in support of the Defense Distributed case.  I have previously described this case here in my post “Code is Speech”.

Here is what I drafted which, after consultation with others whose efforts are much appreciated but will remain unnamed, will be submitted into the public record.  This is exactly what was submitted, less my signature: why make it easy for identity thieves?  This was submitted, as is done, in gnarly monospaced text with no mark-up.  If it shows up in your browser with awkward line breaks, try making the browser window wider and it should get better.   If you’re on a tablet or mobile phone, try it when you get back to the desktop.... [Read More]

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NY v NRA

The State of New York is playing dirty in an attempt to put the National Rifle Association out of business.   They are going after their insurers.   This ought to be prevented.  I am sure that we do not want a State to decide to kill off a company for political reasons, which is what is going on here.

“Simply put, Defendants made it clear to banks and insurers that it is bad business in New York to do business with the NRA,” the lawsuit says. “As a direct result of this coercion, multiple financial institutions have succumbed to Defendants’ demands and entered into consent orders with DFS that compel them to terminate longstanding, beneficial business relationships with the NRA, both in New York and elsewhere.”  …... [Read More]

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Code Is Speech

Liberator pistol (produced by additive manufacturing)There is a fundamental principle at stake in the current controversy, ignorantly reported and heavily spun, over the recent U.S. State Department settlement with Defense Distributed and the Second Amendment Foundation in which Defense Distributed essentially won the case it had been pursuing since 2015, clearing it to distribute design files for the manufacture of firearms and components which can be used to produce them via additive manufacturing (“3D printing”).

This principle is much simpler and more fundamental than the cloud of confusion and ignorance spread like squid ink by the slavers who prefer a disarmed and dependent population at their mercy.  It goes to the heart of free speech, and we’ve been here before.... [Read More]

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Closer to a Fracture

In discussing the firing of Kevin Williamson a few days ago, @1967Mustangman closed the post with the observation, “…America inches closer to a fracture.” A District Court in Massachusetts  may have just moved us several feet closer thereto, in ruling that the Second Amendment permits a ban on possession of many categories of the most popular guns in the country. That the Judge, William G. Young, had a political axe to grind is suggested by his gratuitous observation in the opinion that Justice Scalia would have been “proud” of it. Such commentary in district court opinions are, let us say, unusual.

The law bans virtually all semi-automatic weapons, calling them “assault rifles.” As such, the court says (straight out of gun-banners’ talking points) they are useful to the military, therefore not protected  by the Second Amendment. This, itself, is a non sequitur.... [Read More]

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TOTD 2018-03-11: “Weapons of War”

On Friday, February 23rd, 2018 former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice appeared on the Hugh Hewitt radio program. In a rambling discussion, she said the following about gun violence.

I will say this, Hugh. I think it is time for us to have a conversation about what the right to bear arms means in the modern world. I don’t understand why civilians need to have access to military weapons. We wouldn’t, we wouldn’t say you can go out and buy a tank. So I do think we need to have that conversation.... [Read More]

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New Leftist attack on the NRA

Brought to us via a George Soros project, of course.   The newspaper that soiled my driveway this morning held a gloating article from the USA Today Network about all sorts of big companies severing ties (loose ones at that) with the NRA.   I had heard NPR gloating over it on Friday:

As a groundswell grows against the National Rifle Association in the aftermath of last week’s school massacre in Parkland, Fla., several businesses say they are ending their partnerships with the gun advocacy group.... [Read More]

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Assault rifles age limit helps Christmas shoppers

I saw a bunch of articles in the past few days that mentioned one initiative proposed to help forestall future mass shootings by mentally troubled youths.  The proposal is to raise the age limit required for a youngster to attain before he is allowed to purchase an “assault rifle” on his own.

In their rush to press forward any and all limitations on guns, eager beaver journalists rushed to state capitols all around to get soundbite quotes from politicians.  In red states they tried to buttonhole Republicans, looking for quotes that could be used during electioneering later this year.   In my state, they raced around the Tennessee capitol and got a number of GOP officials to opine on some proposals that they might be willing to consider or at least permit debate on.  I was amused, sort of, by some of the Surrender Caucus saying their usual weaselly things.... [Read More]

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