I’m Back, Sorta…

Got home Friday night about 8 PM, ate dinner & crashed. Got up Saturday at 5 AM, left the house at 6, and ran my combination IHMSA pistol & NRA pistol & cowboy rifle match. Got home about 5 PM. Laid down on the bed “for a few minutes” about 6. Got up this morning about ten minutes to 8.

I head back to the job site tomorrow morning at 5 AM, and will be there probably through Tuesday.

I’ll try to post some insightful commentary or biting satire today, but as burned out as I feel at the moment….

OK, So I Lied

Not really, though. I’m buried in work, but I found this over lunch and had to post it.

‘Bankrupt’ Forces may shut 5 bases
Internal reports say $500M shortfall may cause closures from Winnipeg to Labrador

Chris Wattie
National Post

Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Canada’s army, navy and air force are facing a funding shortfall of up to half a billion dollars, defence sources told the National Post, and the military is recommending drastic measures to make up the difference, including closing some of the largest bases in the country.

The federal government is stalling the release of internal documents that outline the looming financial crisis, but military sources said the reports indicate that in the fiscal year beginning on April 1, the air force expects to be $150-million short of funds needed to fulfill its commitments, the navy will be $150-million shy of its needs and the army will be as much as $200-million short.

The figures were submitted to General Ray Henault, the Chief of Defence Staff, last month by the heads of the land staff, the maritime staff and the air staff in anticipation of this year’s defence budget.

The military sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the reports foresee a situation so dire that they recommend curtailing operations, dry-docking ships and mothballing vehicles or aircraft and closing at least four Canadian Forces bases.

Unless additional funding is awarded by the government, the air force is suggesting closing bases at Goose Bay, Nfld., Bagotville, Que., North Bay and Winnipeg, the sources said.

Further, the air force report says that unless its fleet of ageing CC-130 Hercules transport planes is replaced or modernized, the main transport base at Trenton should be closed within 10 years. “There won’t be enough Hercs flying by then to justify keeping that base open,” one air force source said.

The navy predicts it will not be able to live up to treaty obligations to NATO and other alliances and cannot carry out enough patrols of Canadian waters to comply with agreements with other government departments such as Immigration Canada or Fisheries and Oceans.

“We will not be able to meet our domestic defence obligations,” one naval officer said.

The army is said to be in the worst financial state of all three branches of the Canadian Forces. “Everyone knows that the army’s broke and has been for a couple of years,” said one military source familiar with the reports.

Colonel Howard Marsh, a former senior army staff officer now working as an analyst for the Conference of Defence Associations, said he was not surprised by the size of the shortfall.

“This is a look forward … at what they need in order to keep the army going,” he said. “Nobody has ever seen a bankrupt military in a developed country…. This year I predict we will see that in Canada.”

Col. Marsh said the military is saddled with ageing bases and increasingly dilapidated buildings that are fast reaching the point of collapse. “What they’ve been doing, year in and year out … is not replace or repair those buildings, or buy new equipment,” he said.

“The average age of the equipment in the Canadian Forces is over 20 years and it hasn’t been well-maintained.”

The Liberal government reduced defence spending by 23% and cut the number of regular military personnel to approximately 60,000 from 80,000 between 1993 and 2000. There were 120,000 people in the Canadian military in 1958.

In 2003, the defence budget was increased $800-million to $12.7-billion, the single largest increase since the Liberals came to power. But that still left the total below that of 1991, when the Mulroney Conservatives committed troops to the Gulf War and the defence budget stood at $12.8-billion.

Jay Hill, the Conservative defence critic, said the reports outline the result of more than a decade of Liberal cuts to the Canadian Forces.

“They shouldn’t even be in this position,” he said. “They shouldn’t be having to look for nickel and dime savings when the government is blowing hundreds of millions on sponsorship programs.”

Mr. Hill called on the government to make the three reports available immediately. “This flies in the face of this Prime Minister’s stated commitment to being open and transparent,” he said.

The Department of National Defence has refused to make public the annual reports, known as command impact assessments.

Defence officials this week turned down a request by the National Post and the influential defence publication Jane’s Defence Weekly to see the reports under access to information legislation.

Judith Mooney, the director of access to information for the Department of National Defence, said the reports will not be made public for another three to five weeks because they are considered “draft” documents.

“I exercised my discretion to withhold the documents until the [Defence] Department’s business-planning process is complete, at which time they will be released,” she said.

Ms. Mooney could not say when exactly the reports would be released, but indicated they would be available by the end of March.

Although that would delay them until after the release of the federal budget, which is expected on March 23, she said David Pratt, the Defence Minister, was not involved in the decision to withhold the reports until then. Mr. Pratt did not reply to repeated requests for comment on the reports.

In previous years, the assessments have been made public.

This year’s reports paint a picture even more bleak than last year’s, which said the military would be unable to sustain itself without additional resources or a reduced workload.

They were the basis for a story last year in Jane’s Defence Weekly, the prestigious London-based magazine, which caused a furor in Canadian and NATO defence circles. Under the headline “Running on Empty,” the story said the army, navy and air force did not receive the money they needed.

The article said the navy asked for an additional $50-million to bridge the funding gap, but received only $6.7-million. The air force expected a $104-million shortfall but received about $7-million. The army had a larger gap between what was expected of it and the funding available, and received $85-million in extra money.

Major-General Terry Hearn, the chief of finance for the Canadian Forces, acknowledged the military has had “issues” with funding over the past four years.

But he said the department is implementing a long-term plan to stabilize its finances. “We’ll become sustainable over the next couple of years,” he said. “We have long-term strategies to deal with these issues … [but] we’re not going to solve them next year.”

Peter Stoffer, a New Democrat MP whose Nova Scotia riding includes a large military base, called the government’s refusal to release the reports “very suspicious.”

“If anyone out there honestly believes that access to information will be any easier under this government, they are fooling themselves,” he said. “They say one thing and do another.”

Yet Canada’s Auditor General Sheila Frasier has reported that implementing registration of all long-guns and all firearms owners (and failing) had cost, as of April 2002, $629 million. The projected cost through 2005? One BILLION.

Yet the Canadian military is sorely underfunded. Think that money might have been better spent?

No Blog for You!

I’m going to be out of town on business for the next three days or so, so no new posts for a bit. Sorry.

It’ll be real interesting to find out what happens in the Senate over the bill protecting gun manufacturers and dealers, once S.659, now S.1805. The Geek is all over this, so please stay tuned in there.

And thanks for visiting! The archives are still open.

Yup. Federalizing Airport Security Ensures Professionalism

Presented without further comment:

Six security screeners curious about their brains face disciplinary actions for misconduct

The Transportation Security Administration is not saying exactly who x-rayed themselves or when because of privacy reasons, but a source tells 9NEWS the six screeners were working at passenger checkpoints when they decided to x-ray their own bodies.

Like a piece of luggage, the screeners would have rolled down the conveyor belt into the opening, about 2.5 feet high and a foot and a half wide.

“There’s enough training, enough education available in the public domain, let alone the circumstances of the TSA, to know this is a foolhardy thing to do,” said David Forbes, president of Boydforbes, Inc. “The questions that come out of this though are what is the level of supervision?”

Forbes, a security expert, says this highlights a lack of good management and training. But TSA spokesman Mike Fierberg says it was just someone doing something stupid. He insists it did not interfere with security.

TSA would not say if the screeners were still on administrative leave. In fact, it would only confirm that “some kind of action” was taken against one screener at DIA.

As for the screeners’ health, the manufacturers of the x-ray equipment say the exposure is actually too low to hurt anyone. They say a chest x-ray at a hospital would be 50 times stronger than an x-ray from an airport system.

There are also news video reports on the site.

OK, one comment: Do you feel safe? No, wait! Two: Think your tax dollars are well spent?

So… Gunshows are “Supermarkets for Criminals” eh?

Not according to J. David Phillips of Crystal River FL, and his experience is just about a duplicate of mine. Which is why I don’t go to Evil Loophole Gunshows anymore. Here’s an old rec.guns newsgroup post on the topic. Keep spewable liquids away from the keyboard:

Is your show anything like this one?

Arrive early. Usually a short wait to get in. For parking that is. Overpriced parking that costs more than show admission. Gunshow is usually held at the same time the Women’s Knitting Society Doll Show is held, and they open earlier, so all the good parking is snapped up. Oh well, I suppose no one in Florida has any right to complain about walking in the rain.

Now we’ve got the line to get in. Let’s see, there are three lines. Gee, this one is a bit shorter. Oops, why is it going so slow? Why the #### is everyone in MY line paying with loose change? Cripes, the other lines have cleared out twice over. Finally get to the booth. Oops, now it’s shift change. At 9AM?

A couple of sleezy looking good ole boys holding up the wall shout “Hey, what’ya got on that chrome AK? Does it have the switch on it ?”

Now for the line to get in. Everyone has to be checked for guns. No, I’m not carrying a gun. Thank goodness. The old geezer rent-a-cop is having trouble trying to figure out how to open someone’s 30-30 action.

OK, now we’re cooking with gas. Literally. I have to run the gauntlet of BBQ grill dealers.

Ah, a gun table. Looks interesting. Oops, spoke too soon. Someone must be kidding. These are parts guns and this guy wants 50% over MSRP? Move on.

Here’s a familiar sight. This old fella always has a table full of Winchester Model 71’s. The same table full. Meaning he hasn’t sold any for several years. I guess he’s just displaying his collection and is tired of saying they aren’t for sale, so he’s resorted to putting astronomical prices on them to discourage sales. At least that’s what I can figure out.

Oh look, the Beanie Baby dealer fom Ozello has managed to move closer to the front door.

Couple of ultra fat sleezy good ole boys holding up the South wall shout “Hey, what’ya got on that there chrome AK? Has it got duh switch on it ?”

Now I have to run the gaunlet of safe dealers who take your order but never deliver. My sister had to get the state attorney general involved to get her money back from one. Quickly move on.

Make quick pit stop. Wish I had gone before I left home. The facilities are so filthy that I cannot describe them here. Wish I had used the safe of the ripoff dealer to relieve myself.

Now I pass the snack bar. I could never figure out why it is located right next to the restrooms. People are standing in line for hotdogs that look like they’ve been cooking since the last gunshow. The smell of hotdogs and urinal mints must make some people hungry, I guess. Quickly move along.

This guy seems to have quite a crowd around his gun parts. Wait to get close to table. Dang. It’s all the pot metal 1911 bushings with built-in comp and bayonet lugs. Work my way out of the crowd and on to the next table.

More Beanie Babies from a dealer in Aripieka.

Now a jerky and sausage vender from Brooksville.

Darrel and Darrel come up to me and ask “Hey, what’ya got on that chrome AK? Do it have the switch on it ?”

Ah, some real gun parts. Unfortunately none for any of the many gun projects I have. but it’s good to know that if I ever get a Mondragon that this guy has cornered the market for firing pins.

More beanie babies from an idiot in Crystal River.

Say, here’s three tables with books. Let’s see… “How To Turn Your 10-22 Into A Thousand Yard Assault Sniper Rifle”. “How To Make A Fully Automatic 10-22 Assault Sniper Weapons System”. “Converting Your 10-22 Into a Fully Automatic Thousand Yard Assault Sniper Weapon”. Hmmm, I’m begining to see a pattern here. Move along.

Ah, the mountain man muzzleloader dealer. This guy seems knowledgable, reasonably priced, has lots of inventory and accessories, and is friendly. Too bad I’m not into muzzleloaders.

Here’s a fellow I can’t figure out. He is a collector. Yet he brings glass display counters. Six of them. Full of brand new guns with warranty. No 4473, cuz he ain’t a dealer. He’s a collector. Gee, wish I could be a collector and sell dozens of brand new guns still in the box from my collection each weekend. Course, if you are in ‘business’ , then you have to have a license.

Next is the eight tables of guns from a local storefront dealer. They are selling like hotcakes. Can’t be the price, because they are marked up even more than what they sell for in the store. After looking over the guns and hearing “You gunna buy or what?” from three different clerks, it begins to dawn on me that people are there for the abuse. I think they’re from Inverness.

Quickly move along.

Here’s a table dedicated to sniping. He sells sniper rifles, sniper scopes, sniper ammo, sniper clothes, sniper books, sniper bumper stickers, sniper posters, sniper conversion kits for 10-22’s, sniper jacket pathes and how to snipe video tapes. Quite a crowd too. The seller is telling some youngsters about the brave and noble Waffen SS snipers who would hold their fire while old Russian women crossed the street with their babies. Made sour mental note that perhaps Waffen SS snipers might be a level above Lon Horiuchi.

Stop at a little table with an interesting old pistol. Unfortunately, the seller is not there, as he ate one of the hotdogs and is soaking up some of the restroom mints, but his sister’s cousin’s daughter’s boy is, and he’s watching the table. Have to come back later.

Oh look, the magazine dealer. This old gentleman makes my visit worthwhile. His prices are pretty high, but it’s amazing the magazines he comes up with. I need a magazine for a Walther P-38 in 22LR. By George, he’s got one. New in wrapper. $60. Ouch. Buy it anyway. Have to make the parking and entrance fee seem worthwhile. Wish he’d sell out of his house, but no, only at gun shows.

More Beanie Babies from another idiot in Lecanto.

Bruce and Larry from Queer People, Inc, ask “What’ya got on that there chrome AK? Does it have the switch, sweetie?”

Another magazine dealer. Let’s see what he has. Lots and lots of bins of magazines for every imaginable military firearm since WWII. Uh oh, they are all USA magazines. But, they’re guaranteed for life.

And another book dealer. Let’s see. “How To Turn Your 10-22 Into a….” QUICKLY move along.

A pawn shop table. Cheap jewelry, watches and junk from a competitor in Crystal River. I guess he’s finally found out that one has to watch how much stuff they take into the store.

Another sausage and jerky dealer from the place next door to the pet store in Crystal River.

Alright! An old west firearms dealer. Rusted pre-war Win 1894 – $650. Rusted Iver Johnson topbreak 32 revolver with peeling nickel finish – $400. Halfway decent Colt SAA – note says it was owned by Jesse James. (sigh)

Another parts dealer. Yep. Lots of parts alright. Too bad they all are either demilled by being torch cut or look like they’ve been salvaged from a sunken U-Boat. Thought I heard someone say they’re from the Atocha, and found by Mel Fisher.

Here’s an interesting table full of guns. Decent prices. Decent looking old guns. Hey, just what I’m looking for. Says the bore is good. Can you please snip the ty-wrap so I can inspect the bore? Why not? Oh, you aren’t allowed to do that? Show management said so? How come all the other dealers do it? You won’t sell to me because I’m a trouble maker? Geeeesh, must be from that Hernanidiot club.

Surplus military clothing. Lots of it. Along with surplus moth holes. All at non-surplus prices.

Table full of cheap toys made by slave labor in communist China.

Oh boy, this looks interesting. Lots and lots of reloading equipment, much of it in older boxes. Might find some obsolete dies. Yep, just what I need. 25-35 and 32-40. I figure $20 each is fair. What? Do you know your price is double the new RCBS price? Take it or leave it? They got a lifetime warranteeee. Leave it.

A guy selling gun stocks. Do you have a stock for a pre-64 Model 94 Winchester? Looks around, slightly confused, then says his stocks fit all Winchester 94’s. Sorry, but no, they don’t, they are the same stock as the Win 1892. Well sonny, I’ve been in the stock biznuz for thutty yaars, and I oughta know.

Familiar looking cast bullet dealer. Lots of nice looking bullets. Ask him the same question I ask at every gun show. Do you have soft cast 45-70 and 45 Colt bullets with either SPG lube or no lube? I see, only hard cast with lube so hard it might as well be plastic. What’s SPG ?

Another gun dealer. Hmmm. Interesting Broomhandle Mauser. Say can I ***HEY MISTER YOU WANT TO SELL THAT SPRINGFIELD?*** look at your ***WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR THAT WINCHESTER?*** Broomhandle Maus- ***I HAVE A BAYONET TO FIT YOUR GARAND RIGHT HERE*** Give up and leave. He’d rather cast his line at fish going by than one nibbling on his hook.

Another Beanie Baby dealer from New York, shouting out ” Such a deal for youse”.

See an old acquaintence of mine that is a total gun show whore. Hey Samuri Davie boy, you sure have put on weight. How much ya got on that there chrome AK? Does it have the switch on it?”

A table with all sorts of old junk, none of it having anything to do with firearms, being manned by a kindly looking old lady. Politely smile and nod and move along.

Table full of project guns. All torch cut in two. Yep, they’d be a project alright.

Samuri sword dealer. I started feeling for my pocket gun and the switch on the AK.

Nazi collectibles dealer. Why are these guys always about 330 pounds, need a shave, have a tooth missing, wear plumber’s butt jeans and wife beater t-shirts and have their hair slicked back? Oh, the ‘DEATH TO ZOG’ bumper sticker is a nice touch. Skip whole row.

Demonstration row. Here’s a guy with a hotplate and tea kettle showing how his goop fog proofs your eyeglasses. I bought some of the stuff a couple of years ago from a woman with huge tits. Still have it, as it doesn’t work. Here’s a guy showing how his vacuum cleaner can pick up a bowling ball (will keep that in mind when the bowling ball buildup on my carpets gets out of hand). Here’s a guy selling a complete butcher shop kit. Bandsaw, huge sausage grinder, giant meat slicer, more knives than a Ginsu ad, everything to keep Jeffery Dahlmer happy. Here’s a guy selling a meat blade that attaches to your chainsaw to cut up your deer. Must be for the high volume hunter. What else? A knife sharpener. Carpet shampoo. Car wash. Kit for making 800 lbs of jerky. At least walking this isle was better than going by the hotdog and urinal mint stench.

More Beanie Babies from the Christmas Store down the street.

Table with lots of AR15’s. And the obligatory old geezer spouting off to no one in particular, “By gum, that be them thar ay-salt wippins thet be gettin the rest of ouh gun rayhts taken away, yessir. No self ray-spectun sportsman would evah own one o dem. No sir. They need ta be banned.” Notice at least he has a wide space around him. Maybe it’s a plan to keep from being jostled by the crowd. I think he’s the guy that sells the blowguns down the aisle.

T-Shirt vendor. Has t-shirts like “DEATH TO ZOG”. Gee, this guy is about 330 pounds, needs a shave, has a tooth missing, wear’s plumber’s crack jeans and a wife beater t-shirt and has his hair slicked back. Shake head wondering if he’s related to the Nazi collectibles dealer.

This table is loaded with all the gun gimmicks of the last 30 years. Glow in the dark sight paint. Folding 10-22 Assault Sniper Weapon Stocks with Flash Hider and Built In Bayonet Lug and Oversized Tactical Safety and Magazine Release kit. Barrel heat shield for 10-22 (they get might hot after conversion to a thousand yard fully automatic assault sniper rifle, ya know). Ah, this is interesting. Why I don’t know. A 150 round snail drum for a Charter Arms AR-7. At least when you’re living off the land you won’t have to reload all winter.

Jerky and sausage dealer from New Jersey, shouting ” Oy Vey”.

Bikers selling Harley parts for 20% above retail from one of the biker trash shops around Crystal River.

Mutt and Jeff stop by and ask, “What’ya got on that chrome AK? Duhs it have switches on it?”

Local gun club group who says they are raffling off a Winchester 22 Magnum rifle with a 3-9 scope. Raffle tickets are $10 each and go to defending gun rights and their building fund. What building? Free club patch, suitable for patching holes in your shirt. Ask them who won the last rifle they were raffling off. Sorry, can’t tell ya. Privacy and all that. Do you at least have a photo of the winner holding up his gun? Uneasy silence while they all look at each other with that “gee, maybe we’d have more credibility if we faked a photo like that.”

Guy with a few bins of gun parts and a HUGE-BY-LARGE sign that says I CARRY ALL GUN PARTS – JUST ASK!. Do you have a loading gate for an 1886 Winchester? No. Do you have a firing pin for an 1892 Winchester? No. Do you have an extractor for a Rem 788? No. (Hmmm, let’s try an experiment.) Do you have a kit for converting a Ruger 10-22 into a thousand yard fully automatic assault sniper rifle? Yessir, sure do.

Old woman at a table full of books. She weighs about 330 lbs, has a tooth missing, greasy hair and is selling books with titles like “DEATH TO ZOG”. She vaguely resembles someone. Shake head and move on.

Only a couple of tables to go. Getting hungry too. And need to make a pit stop. Figure I’ll drive to the nearest McDonald’s rather than risk the toilet mint aroma hot dogs and the filthy facilities.

And what are the last two tables?

Beanie Babies seconds from their factory.

And a guy who has REALLY figured out marketing. His table has jerky, 10-22 conversion books, rusty gun parts, old reloading dies, a few Nazi medals, and a rusted up top break Webley revolver, formerly owned by Jesse James.

My contribution? Parking fee, entrance fee, bought one pricey magazine, headache from the toilet mint smell, and two black tire marks out of the parking lot.

The only difference between Mr. Phillips’ experience and my own is that the gun shows out here have a lot fewer gun vendors, and only one “DEATH TO ZOG” booth.

(Multiple Expletives Deleted…) THIS is What We’re Fighting

Via AR15.com I found this… (*ahem*) propaganda video produced by those concerned citizens of the Brady Center. The NRA is “bullying” Congress into “ending” the AWB! No, we concerned gun owners are “bullying” them into letting the damned useless law sunset like it’s supposed to. But that’s not how the Brady people spin it, oh no! It will “put dozens of illegal weapons back on the street!” Excuse me? It never took them off the damned street. At least they got the quantity right. Dozens is about it.

But what do they do? Frighten the kiddies! “Criminals will have access to a terrifying arsenal!” You morons, they already do! Even in England, where guns are banned, they have access to machineguns and handgrenades!

Oooh! Look at the scary guns! Right.

“12 rounds into a cop’s body in 2 seconds.” Suuuure! Can you pull a trigger twelve times in two seconds and hit anything?

Oooh! “In a recent poll, 70% of Americans supported keeping and strengthening the Assault Weapons Ban.” Well, how surprising. Who funded the poll? Who worded the poll? And who is responsible for ensuring that the populace doesn’t understand the idea of Constitutional protections of individual rights?

“Favor #2: Slam the courthouse door on victims and their families.” Oh, right. It’s the gun manufacturer’s fault when somebody is shot during a robbery. It’s the gun manufacturer’s fault when some moron points a loaded gun at someone and pulls the trigger. Are we going to sue cutlery manufacturers for stabbings with evil “assault knives?” Willl we sue them when someone cuts a finger while chopping celery? The Lousville Slugger company for baseball-bat assaults? Or players injured by flying ones? Ford, when someone deliberately runs someone over? Or drives drunk into a tree? That’s not justice, it’s a perversion of it.

“The NRA is pushing a bill giving sweeping immunity from civil lawsuits.” Well, YEAH, because the Brady Foundation and others have been using civil lawsuits in an attempt to bankrupt gun manufacturers. Here’s what several decisions in these lawsuits have said:

“Although this public nuisance lawsuit is brought by the Attorney General on behalf of the State of New York – while the Hamilton action was one initiated by private parties for negligent marketing – both were brought against handgun manufacturers and sellers. Plaintiffs attempt here to widen the range of common-law public nuisance claims in order to reach the legal handgun industry will not itself, if successful, engender a limitless number of public nuisance lawsuits by individuals against these particular defendants, as was a stated concern in Hamilton (96 NY2d at 233). However, giving a green light to a common-law public nuisance cause of action today will, in our judgment, likely open the courthouse doors to a flood of limitless, similar theories of public nuisance, not only against these defendants, but also against a wide and varied array of other commercial and manufacturing enterprises and activities.

“All a creative mind would need to do is construct a scenario describing a known or perceived harm of a sort that can somehow be said to relate back to the way a company or an industry makes, markets and/or sells its non-defective, lawful product or service, and a public nuisance claim would be conceived and a lawsuit born. A variety of such lawsuits would leave the starting gate to be welcomed into the legal arena to run their cumbersome course, their vast cost and tenuous reasoning notwithstanding. Indeed, such lawsuits employed to address a host of societal problems would be invited into the courthouse whether the problems they target are real or perceived; whether the problems are in some way caused by, or perhaps merely preceded by, the defendants completely lawful business practices; regardless of the remoteness of their actual cause or of their foreseeability; and regardless of the existence, remoteness, nature and extent of any intervening causes between defendants lawful commercial conduct and the alleged harm.” – from the appeals court decision upholding the dismissal of New York v. Sturm Ruger et. al.

“Knives are sharp, bowling balls are heavy, bullets cause puncture wounds in flesh. The law has long recognized that obvious dangers are an excluded class. Were we to decide otherwise, we would open a Pandora’s box.”

“The city could sue the manufacturers of matches for arson, or automobile manufacturers for traffic accidents, or breweries for drunken driving.

“Guns are dangerous. When someone pulls the trigger, whether intentionally or by accident, a properly functioning gun is going to discharge, and someone may be killed. The risks of guns are open and obvious.

“We hold that the trial court properly dismissed the city’s complaint. The city’s claims are too remote and seek derivatively what should be claimed only by citizens directly injured by firearms. The city cannot recover municipal costs. We overrule its assignment of error and affirm the judgment of the trial court.” – Judge Ralph Winkler, Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals in the decision upholding dismissal of Cincinnati’s lawsuit.

“As an individual, I believe, very strongly, that handguns should be banned and that there should be stringent, effective control of other firearms. However, as a judge, I know full well that the question of whether handguns can be sold is a political one, not an issue of products liability law, and that this is a matter for the legislatures, not the courts. The unconventional theories advanced in this case (and others) are totally without merit, a misuse of products liability laws.” Judge Buchmeyer in the dismissal of Patterson v. Gesellschaft, 1206 F.Supp. 1206, 1216 (N.D. Tex. 1985)

But you won’t be hearing any of that from these people.

“Even the notorious Bull’s Eye Shooter Supply will be protected by the bill. 52 crimes were traced to guns sold by Bull’s Eye. The government discovered 238 guns missing or stolen from Bull’s Eye Shooter Supply, including the Bushmaster used by the DC snipers. Victims will have no recourse against dealers who supply guns to the criminal market.”

Where do I start? First “52 crimes were traced” is exactly backward. The BATF traces guns not crimes, so did we have one guy committing 52 crimes with one gun, or 52 different guns and different crimes? It’s pretty damned vague. How old were the guns? Were they in the possession of the original owners? Were they illegally purchased by felons? Were they “straw purchases”? Were they stolen? None of this matters to the Brady people, because all guns are bad to them. So, the “government discovered 238 guns missing or stolen” from Bull’s Eye. Wonderful. If the company was so fucked up, why did it take years for the BATF to pull the license? Regulating licensed dealers is their goddamned job! And Bull’s Eye was the source of the DC sniper’s Bushmaster? But I thought the sunsetting Assault Weapons Ban kept these guns off the street! Guess not, huh?

Get this straight – if it can be proven that the DC snipers bought that Bushmaster “under the table” then Bull’s Eye’s previous owner is civilly liable even if the preemption law passes. But if the gun was, as Malvo has confessed, stolen it’s not his fault. But you won’t hear that either.

“The NRA wants complete immunity for Bull’s Eye and other bad gun dealers and justice denied to victims and their families.” HORSESHIT! The NRA wants immunity against nuisance lawsuits that are nothing more than blatant attempts to litigate businesses into bankruptcy. The Brady bunch doesn’t give a rat’s ass about “victims and their families” except as poster-children for their pogrom against guns. They know that these lawsuits are groundless, but it hasn’t stopped them from filing them all over the country, and appealing defeat after defeat. If they actually gave a damn, they’d be giving “the victims and their families” the money that the greedy fucking trial lawyers are expecting.

“Right now gun victims can sue irresponsible gun manufacturers and dealers. The NRA wants to change this.” Fucking-A right they do. For all the reasons listed above.

“Right now, military style semi-automatic weapons are illegal.”

NO THEY ARE NOT

That is a blatant lie and the Brady bunch doesn’t give a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut about lying to you if it furthers their agenda. And their agenda is to make that statement true.

“STOP THE MADNESS” Here’s an idea: STOP THE BRADY BUNCH AND THEIR ILK!

Here’s the source of this shameless bullshit, hunted down by AR15.com contributor colinjay:

Kenneth Lerer Associates
331 West 57th St
PMB 465
New York, New York 10019
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com
Domain Name: NRAMADNESS.COM
Created on: 29-Sep-03
Expires on: 29-Sep-05
Last Updated on: 29-Sep-03

Administrative Contact:
Lerer, Ken [email protected]
Kenneth Lerer Associates
331 West 57th St
PMB 465
New York, New York 10019
United States
917.254.8732 Fax —
Technical Contact:
Lerer, Ken [email protected]
Kenneth Lerer Associates
331 West 57th St
PMB 465
New York, New York 10019
United States
917.254.8732 Fax —

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Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
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Administrative Contact:
Hall, Keith [email protected]
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
1225 Eye St, NW
Suite 1100
Washington, District of Columbia 20005
United States
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Hall, Keith [email protected]
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
1225 Eye St, NW
Suite 1100
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United States
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Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
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Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
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AR15.com contributor rayra googled and found this:

“Ken Lerer” pops up as a publicist / shill in New York. There is another hit for “ken lerer” in DC, and joining AOL / TIme Warner.
Then there is a “ken lerer” who left AOL Time Warner, and joined something called the “New Democracy Project” – http://www.newdemocracyproject.com/about/board/
http://www.newdemocracyproject.com/about/board/#Lerer
which states –
past Executive Vice President at AOL Time Warner, is currently head of Kenneth Lerer Associates, LLC and a lecturer at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.

Don’t let anybody tell you that gun owners are paranoid and that “nobody wants to take your guns away.”

These fuckers do. And they’re well organized and well financed. And I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to find out that Mr. Lerer has one of the few NYC gun carry permits, or employs an armed bodyguard.

(Pardon my language, but these people really piss me off!)

Now, call your Senators and tell them that you want Senate Bill S.659 to pass without amendment.

The number is 202-224-3121. You have to call twice, once for each Senator. Do it now.

And it Started off SO Well



Via Keepandbeararms.com

Playing with weapons breeds violent behavior, if only for a moment

BY DEBRA-LYNN B. HOOK

Several of us couples were gathered for dinner at the home of a friend, when one of our young desperados emerged from playing.

The little bandito must have been packing heat because we heard the hostess sing out from the kitchen:

“All weapons in the playroom!”

I caught the eye of my conscientious mother friend sitting across the table from me.

Weapons?

It’s not like my friend and I are purists.

Her son has in his toy chest two vintage Army tanks that once belonged to her husband. My son has a plastic box filled with miniature Revolutionary War soldiers. Her son has a toy gun his grandparents gave him for Christmas one year. Both our kids own plastic swords.

But a pack of boys of varying ages and sizes playing outside their parents’ view with a random bunch of violent toys? Hmmmm.

How times have changed. I used to play “War” with my friends literally for hours “outside my parent’s view.”

When I became the mother of a son 15 years ago, I didn’t consider toy weapons for playtime, mostly because my own girlhood toy du jour was Chatty Cathy.

As the years went by and my normal American boy began to notice he was the only male child on the block without an Ouzi (sic) for a squirt gun, I felt compelled to research the appropriateness of weapon play.

I learned that while some childhood experts believe kids who play with toy weapons become Columbine shooters, that there is no conclusive evidence to support such a theory.

Who’dathunkit? “no conclusive evidence to support such a theory”? How about any evidence to support such a theory?

I learned that Mister Rogers thought war play an appropriate, dare I say necessary, way for kids to act out a violent world. Even peacenik Joan Baez reportedly let her kids play with toy guns, contending if she didn’t, they would want them even more.

I learned from my own experience that boys will be boys, that a pork chop bone readily becomes a Colt 45 in the hands of a 4-year-old, even a 4-year-old who’s never seen anything on TV more violent than Barney.

Amazing, that, isn’t it? And another nail in the coffin of the idea that “boys and girls are the same, it’s just the way we raise them that makes them different.”

As time went on, as I watched my first son and his friends grow up – some of them with toy guns, others not – I concluded that weapon play does not necessarily breed violent tendencies, that whether a child should play with cap guns depends partly on the child, that it is not necessarily a bad thing for a child to play with toy weapons, that it may even be good.

I still didn’t like it. When all was said and done, expert wisdom or not, I simply didn’t like the way kids acted when they played with certain violent toys. Never mind violent tendencies later. The way I saw it, weapon play produced violent behavior now.

And this is a bad thing….why? Shouldn’t children learn the effects of violent behavior when they’re young, rather than find out after years of being coddled and protected? Violence often hurts, but if you don’t learn that as child, doesn’t that leave you unprepared to learn it as an adult?

And yet, knowing the power of culture and a little boys’ urges, I ultimately decided to take it one supervised weapon play at a time. Two well-behaved boys playing toy soldiers on the floor became acceptable. Ouzis (sic) in the hands of 6-year-olds, or 15-year-olds, for that matter, did not.

Even if they’re just squirt-guns? Why?

An occasional sword fight in the living room, as long as there was no actual contact, was tolerable. Neighborhood gun battles were not. All weapon play, regardless, was heavily monitored and controlled, so it didn’t escalate into something it shouldn’t.

Oh for Jebus’s sake. They’re CHILDREN, not porcelain dolls!

I didn’t say anything the other night to the hostess – a mother whose parenting I trust, by the way – even though eight boys, and, I might add, two girls, apparently were chasing each other around with what I later learned were pretend guns, swords and firefighters’ axes.

As a matter of fact, after my initial eyebrow-raising, I didn’t think much at all about the kids’ choice of play, partly because I trusted this particular group of kids and their parents, partly because I didn’t think it was my place. It wasn’t even my house. Who was I to order the kids to put down their toys and find something else to do?

And yet, as it turns out, as we parents all later realized, that’s exactly what one of us should have done. Because things did escalate, because one of the kids ended up getting hurt, because halfway through dinner, my conscientious friend’s 6-year-old son emerged scared, crying and asking his parents to take him home. She later said he had bumps on his head and a cut on his face.

Direct contact with a weapon was not the cause. The kids assured us of that. But I doubt very seriously this would have happened, had they been redirected to a rousing game of, say, Tiddlywinks.

“Bumps on his head and a cut on his face.” I shudder to think what generations of kids who are raised killing and maiming characters on a video game display, but who have never been injured when playing “War” would be like when they hit adolescence. Boys play rough, and “bumps and scratches” are a normal part of that. Wrapping them in cotton and only allowing them to play Tiddlywinks is idiocy. Pain is a corrective feedback mechanism. Eliminating all pain and injury from childhood is a sure way to leave kids unprepared for life.

It would appear that Ms. Hook is the same kind of parent who would oppose competition because it might affect her child’s “self-esteem.”

Joke of the Day

A minister was seated next to an U.S. Army Ranger Officer on a flight to Fort Benning, Georgia. After the plane was airborne, drink orders were taken. The Officer asked for a whiskey and soda, which was brought and placed before him. The flight attendant then asked the minister if he would like a drink.

He replied in disgust, “I’d rather be savagely raped by brazen whores than let liquor touch my lips.”

The Officer then handed his drink back to the attendant and said, “Me too. I didn’t know we had a choice.”

It’s Official!

Ralph “Unsafe at Any Speed” Nader is out to spoil any chance the Democrats thought they had. Again. He’s running for President as an independent. He got a whopping 2.7% of the vote in 2000, but in more than one race his totals were more than the difference between Bush and Gore. I hope the race this year won’t be so tight as to make a Nader candidacy important, but you never know.

“It is an offence to deny millions of people who might want to vote for our candidacy an opportunity to vote,” he said

Well, he might generate “millions” of new “protest” voters, but he’s more likely to draw the Deaniacs and the PETApeople and their ilk who would be inclined to hold their noses and vote DEM.

Meanwhile, I and many like me will hold our noses and vote for Bush, because as James Lileks wrote

Bush is serious about the war. The Democrats are serious about the war against Bush.