Month: November 2003

Hell-Bent for the Cliff?

Eric Raymond of Armed and Dangerous posts about the apparent direction of the Democrat party – oblivion. Like most all of his posts, it’s well thought-out. Excerpts:

The Democrats certainly seem to be trying pretty hard to self-destruct. But this is not a new story; it’s been going on ever since the New Left captured the party apparat in the early 1970s. My first experience of political activism was standing athwart that particular tide of history, yelling “stop!”, as a campaign worker for centrist Democrat Scoop Jackson in 1975. I think I already half-understood that he was doomed. What I didn’t foresee was the completeness with which the Democrats would abandon their southern and rural wings to become a party run exclusively by Brie-nibbling urban elites. Call it the NPRization of the party.

—

Ever since the early 1990s, there’s been a tug-of-war going on within the urban elites that now run the party; the Democratic Leadership Council versus the inheritors of the New Left. What’s happening now with the Dean campaign demonstrates that the DLC has lost its grip. The left is winning. The trend that has taken the Democrats from solid majority status in my childhood to the point where it needs a Bill Clinton to win elections, if it continues, might very well result in it disappearing into history.

The DLC’s most recent effort to reverse this tend — to stop talking about gun control — only highlights the depth of the problem. They know, because their own analysts and Bill Clinton have told them, that gun owners are the swing vote that cost them the 1994 and 2000 elections. And yet, the left, for whom hatred of civilian firearms is a religious absolute, has such a lock on the party machine that the DLC can only talk about spin, not about a substantive change in platform.

All very true. But I don’t think The Anointed are going go over the cliff without dragging as many with them as they can.

Read the whole thing.

More Crushing of Dissent

Apparently CBS stands for “Caught Being Shitty.” Drudge is reporting a CBS statement that they will not be showing the controversial mini-series “The Reagans” starring James “Mr. Streisand” Brolin. The reason?

This decision is based solely on our reaction to seeing the final film, not the controversy that erupted around a draft of the script.

Although the mini-series features impressive production values and acting performances, and although the producers have sources to verify each scene in the script, we believe it does not present a balanced portrayal of the Reagans for CBS and its audience. Subsequent edits that we considered did not address those concerns.

So now they claim to be “balanced?”

Or were they just afraid of a libel lawsuit?

I can hear the howls of “CENSORSHIP!!” now. Tim Robbins might never work again.

Oh, wait….

Perhaps Remington Should Look into Manufacturing “Assault Weapons”

In a bit of bad economic news (and in direct opposition to the good economic news in the post abut Knight’s Armaments) Remington Arms will be shutting its Ilion Illinois plant for the entire month of December, according to this story:

Arms shutdown reaction: concern, cautious optimism

ILION – Employees, local retailers and community leaders remain “cautiously optimistic” in the face of Thursday’s announcement from the Remington Arms Company that its Ilion plant will be shut down for the month of December.

Few official details have been made available, with the exception of a letter distributed this week to approximately 940 plant employees. Repeated attempts to contact Plant Manager Paul Cahan were unsuccessful and messages left at the plant Thursday and Friday were not answered.

“It’s a shocker. Nobody knows what is going on,” plant employee Dan Bass said. “It’s going to make it really rough on everybody during the holidays.”

According to the letter, workers will have the opportunity to file for unemployment benefits with the state and employees with unused vacation time will be paid in a December check.

And many fear this will adversely affect the local economy:

There are some concerns that the shut-down could have an adverse effect on local retail sales, particularly because it comes during the important holiday shopping season. Like other municipalities in the area, Ilion relies heavily on sales tax revenue distributed through the county.

“It’s just a difficult time,” Gilmartin said. “Whenever you don’t get that sales tax revenue the effect passes on to the taxpayers.”

Located near the plant in Central Plaza, Smoker Friendly draws a good share of its customer base from Remington Arms employees. Manager Debbie Sterling said most are from the area and would likely still shop locally.

“I really don’t think it’s going to effect us that much here,” she said. “There’s nothing we can do about it anyway; it’s a done deal.”

The Farm House Restaurant is located just across from the plant gate on Otsego Street and attracts a number of employees before and after their shifts. Co-owner Angela Blovat said the shut-down will definitely impact business, but she feels it will not be too severe.

And look at some of the other beneficiaries of the Remington plant aside from local government and local businesses:

Currently in the middle of its fall fundraising campaign, the Valley United Way has always received a great deal of support from Remington Arms employees. Director Steve Canipe said he believes that even though this is a difficult time for workers, they will recognize the good work done by the organization and continue that support.

Kelly Brown, director of emergency services for the Mohawk Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross, also noted that Remington Arms is the largest benefactor for many of the area’s non-profit organizations. In particular, he noted the employees’ support of the Herkimer County Hunger Coalition through their Hands Across the Valley program.

But I thought gun manufacturers were multi-billion corporations that could hire people to fix juries?

Word of Advice: Don’t Rob This Woman’s Bar!

She’s an ex-cop, so that might get her special consideration, but this is Wayne County (Detroit) Michigan, so maybe not. Anyway:

Police: Bar Owner Kills Two Robbers With Single Shot

Wayne County Prosecutor To Review Alleged Robbery, Shooting

Helluva shot, but the “prosecutor to review” bit isn’t encouraging.

Two suspected robbers are dead after a former police officer and owner of a Detroit bar fired a single shot, Local 4 reported.

The robbery and shooting happened early Sunday or late Saturday at Adela’s place on the city’s southwest side.

Police say the 49-year-old woman who owned the restaurant — a retired Detroit cop who was a former member of Mayor Coleman Young’s security team — tried to hold the suspects in the parking lot until police arrived. But when the two men attempted to speed away, and nearly ran over one of her employees, she fired a single shot that apparently struck both men, according to police.

Well, that would be defense of another, and justification for use of lethal force. Being that she’s an ex-cop, the presumption would be that she knew the law (though given the example of ex-chief Jerry Oliver in the post below, maybe not) and was aware when lethal force was justified.

“We’ve had some robberies in that area. We have some evidence now that may indicate that someone was robbed there and assaulted there. There attempted to be another assault against one of the employees, before the owner of this establishment fired one shot in an attempt to stop a fleeing felon,” said Detroit police Inspector Marilyn Hall-Beard.

The two men — Dorian Gordillo, 22, and Rosalio Becera, 33 — were later found dead from a bullet wound in a car parked on the Interstate 75 service drive, according to police.

One of the men was reportedly still holding a beer in his hand.

Open container. Isn’t that illegal?

Oh well, I suppose if you’re going to go, do it with some sense of style. Lawbreaker all the way.

Regular Butch & Sundance.

Family members of Gordillo and Becera were initially confused over their deaths, Local 4 reported.

“He was a very good guy. He would never look for trouble. I don’t understand what happened. I hope we can find some answers,” said Barbara Gordillo, the sister-in-law of one of the victims.

“No! Our (brother, son, cousin, nephew, uncle, fill-in-the-blank) would never do something like that!” (Even though he probably has a rap sheet several pages long.)

Officers who had responded to the incident at the bar wrote down the description of the car that left the scene and later made a match with the vehicle in which Gordillo and Becera were found dead, Local 4 reported.

While the shooting appeared to be justified, the Wayne County prosecutor was expected to review the case to determine if the bar owner would face charges.

And that is, of course, his job. However, I find it fascinating that so few people are charged in the rural South and so many in the urban North.

Question: Was the gun the proprietoress of Adela’s used registered?

Or Was It Because He Thought Cops Didn’t Have to Obey the Law?

Ex Detroit police Chief Jerry Oliver recently attempted to take a flight from Detroit to Philadelphia – with a pistol in his checked luggage. Problem was, he didn’t follow the required procedures to do so. According to this story:

You can check a weapon, but paperwork needs to be filled out and the ammunition separated from the pistol. Oliver claimed to be unaware of the procedures for checking a gun in luggage he says, “it was just an oversight.”

—

Oliver says he takes full responsibility for the incident and says he “always” checks his gun when he boards. But, he claimed to be unaware of the procedures for checking a gun in luggage.

And since he’s a member of the special, priviledged class…

It makes me wonder, however, how many times Chief Oliver had done this in the past, and gotten away with it?

Back on October 20 when the story broke, Chief Oliver faced:

Suspension is unlikely at this point. But, according to TSA officials in Detroit, he could be fined up to a $1,000.

Not to be. (I cannot help but wonder what the penalty for a Joe Average would have been, though?) Instead, Chief Oliver was fined and has resigned his position as Chief. Further, he has been charged with possession of an unregistered handgun – a major oopsie for a police officer. According to this report:

Wayne County Prosecutor Michael Duggan at a Monday morning news conference announced his decision to charge Oliver with the 90-day misdemeanor.

Oliver said he didn’t think he had to register the personal weapon in Michigan, where he was in the process of becoming a licensed, sworn police officer. He has been a sworn officer in other departments and said he has had the gun for years.

He’s a police chief and doesn’t know the gun laws.

But we citizens are supposed to.

UPDATE: According to this story:

Former Detroit Police Chief Jerry Oliver entered a no contest plea to a misdemeanor charge of possessing an unlicensed handgun on Thursday in a Romulus courtroom.

According to an agreement worked out with prosecutors, the charge could be dismissed in 90 days if Oliver stays out of trouble.

—

Doug Baker, the Wayne County chief for special prosecutions, said Oliver’s sentence was “typical” for such cases.

Oliver paid a $250 fine before leaving.

Typical, eh? Perhaps for law-enforcement officers.

I missed this until just now, but if you don’t regularly read Clayton Cramer’s blog, so did you.

Clayton responds to a gun control supporter’s e-mail with calm, reason, and fact. Excellent read. Excerpt:

My experience is that most gun control advocates (as I used to be, 20+ years ago) don’t fully understand the issues involved, for the same reason that I didn’t: they haven’t researched the subject, but have relied on the impressions gathered from reading newspapers and popular magazines. At first glance, a lot of the measures that you talk about seem to make perfect sense–but that’s because you are applying very middle class values to a problem that is largely not middle class.

Violent criminals in America are very atypical; they are disproportionately minors coming from severely dysfunctional homes; disproportionately mentally ill people who have been deinstitutionalized; people who are intoxicated, and for whom intoxication is a way of life; and adults with long felony conviction histories behind them. The values that you and I share are completely irrelevant to the vast majority of murderers.

And there’s a lot more.

It’s a Small World

I came across this story that details the relocation and expansion of Knight’s Armaments manufacturing facilities from Vero Beach, FL to my old hometown of Titusville.

Weapons maker to stir up lackluster economy in N. Brevard

Company to use former Tomahawk missile plant in Titusville, creating up to 450 jobs

Interesting. An “assault weapon” manufacturer bringing jobs to a community. Imagine that.

C. Reed Knight Jr. realizes there’s a dark side to his business.

Beginning in January, his factory, the former McDonnell-Douglas Tomahawk missile plant south of Titusville, will make powerful guns and firearms accessories for the nation’s military, including some top-of-the-line weaponry for U.S. and allied special forces.

Knight reasons his lethal products are used for a good purpose — to defend the nation’s interests against terrorists and other foes.

“What we do for a living is very serious,” he said. “We do build equipment that takes people’s lives, but a lot less than the Tomahawk missiles that were built here. We selectively take out people, and they do it through mass destruction.”

Oh, please. Spare me the PC apologies.

Currently, Knight has about 110 employees at the plant, but plans to increase that up to as many as 250 in January and to 450 “as soon as possible” after production begins. The reopening of the plant is expected to provide a boost to the Titusville area’s lackluster economy.

Knight’s company — Knight Enterprises LLC, and its contracting arm, Knight’s Armament Co. — is the final stages of preparing the building for operation.

Because of the nature of his work, Knight, a former fourth-generation citrus farmer-turned-federal contractor, is guarded when discussing details about his business.

Knight has been gradually relocating his company from Vero Beach, where it has operated for years out of a 60,000-square-foot facility. Last year, Knight announced he would move his firm to the 625,000-square-foot former missile plant after reaching an agreement to buy it from The Boeing Co., which acquired McDonnell-Douglas after the plant closed in 1995.

I assume this means that Knight’s believes the AW ban will sunset?

Knight indicated federal officials took an interest in his company’s move and expansion to support the U.S. “war on terror” in the Persian Gulf region triggered by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

State and Brevard County officials also sweetened the deal by providing Knight with more than $1.7 million in tax breaks and incentives to move into the former missile plant.

Horrors! Tax breaks to manufacturers of “bullet hoses!”

Within the gun-manufacturing industry, Knight’s company is known for its superior firearms, said Gary Mehalik, spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association for gun manufacturers.

“They make some specialized products,” Mehalik said. “Their business is in the same class as the M-16 (assault rifle), but they specialize in more-accurate, long-range applications that are sought-after by people who compete in target-shooting matches. They’re also very valuable for special forces in the Afghan/Iraq campaign.”

Knight’s firearms’ long-range capabilities are in demand in a desert war, where the fighting usually is more spread out than “in the confines of a jungle war,” Mehalik said.

One thing Titusville-area community leaders like about Knight’s business is the roughly 450 manufacturing jobs he plans to bring to this north Brevard County city. Knight estimates the jobs will pay an average of more than $34,000 a year.

The Titusville area hasn’t had much to cheer about in terms of economic development since the recession of 2001. The area also has lacked the robust population growth of south Brevard County.

Before the refurbished plant has produced its first gun, Knight has become somewhat of the toast of the local business community. That’s mainly because he’s breathing new life into the former Tomahawk plant, which was vacant for about seven years.

Not only did the Titusville area lose more than 1,200 jobs when McDonnell-Douglas closed the facility, the empty building came to symbolize the area’s past glory days and present doldrums.

Tidyville was pretty much wiped out in 1974 after the Apollo/Saturn V program came to an end, too. That’s when I was living there. Once they launched Skylab, that was pretty much it, and the major aerospace contractors pulled out. But it was a nice place to grow up.

“We consider them a big part of the community,” Titusville City Manager Tom Harmer said about Knight’s company.

“They’ve brought a lot of adrenaline to this community,” Harmer said. “A lot of people were waiting for the plant to be filled. It’s good to see them getting their operation up and running.”

The plant is in an unincorporated area of Brevard County, just south of Titusville. But the city may annex the 450-acre site into Titusville, Harmer said.

Walt Johnson, executive director of Titusville’s Space Coast Economic Development Commission, said he sees “a psychological” benefit for North Brevard by having the plant occupied again.

I cannot help but wonder if the plant will draw a protest rally from gun control groups. Nah, probably not.

Also, the more than 400 jobs at the plant will have economic “ripple effects” — from local spending by those who work at the plant to related businesses that may see opportunity, he said.

“Other businesses may move here because they have some synergy” with Knight’s company, Johnson said.

In all, Knight planned to spend a total of $20 million to buy the plant, renovate it and put in the gun-manufacturing equipment.

“We should see steady growth,” Knight said, “if homeland security and the military continue to grow.”

And the AW ban sunsets…

Meanwhile, Knight has about 125 people working for him in Vero Beach. That number will drop to 20 to 25 when the Titusville plant opens.

Knight said many of his Vero Beach workers will be working in Titusville, along with people he has been hiring from Brevard County. Machinists and other manufacturing jobs will pay between $7.50 and $20 an hour, he said.

The new plant will start production about a year behind Knight’s original schedule. That’s because he had to focus his resources in Vero Beach when his company received a $12 million contract last year to produce weapons for the Marine Corps. Knight said the contract was tied to the U.S. military campaign in the Persian Gulf region.

He said the Marines needed a lot of weapons fast, and the Vero Beach facility was the only way to meet the demand because the Titusville plant was far from ready. So Knight has kept his Vero Beach facility running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, this year to fulfill the contract.

He’s also been busing workers between Vero Beach and Titusville for training and other job assignments while the company is in transition.

Some of the first business the new plant will handle will be producing Mark 11 sniper rifles for the Navy and “modular weapons systems” for the Army, Knight said.

His company will occupy about half of the plant. Knight is considering whether to lease the remaining space to other companies, which would bring even more jobs to the site.

So far, Knight said he only has had “discussions” with other companies about leasing the empty space. He said potential tenants preferably would be “compatible” with his company, although not necessarily into weapons manufacturing.

“I was very impressed by what they’re doing there,” said Bill Ellis, chairman of the Rockledge-based Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast. “I think it’s an industry with a great future in North Brevard, with all the terrorism we have in the world.” Knight Enterprises LLC

Remember when “gun manufacturer” didn’t have overtones of “evil baby-killer?”

Here’s Knight’s homepage: http://www.knightsarmament.com/

Knight’s makes .223, .308, and .50 BMG gas-operated semi-auto rifles. According to the VPC’s compilation of manufacturing data, Knight’s hasn’t made many rifles: a high of 2,500 in 1993 and a low of 150 in 1996. Only 996 in 1999. I must assume that those numbers don’t reflect military-contract weapons, as those kinds of sales won’t support 100+ employees unless they were all the SR-25 Mark 11 Mod 0 Navy contract sniper rifle at $8,000 a pop.