Author: Kevin

Can You Say “Double Standard?”

KevinLeave a comment

In conjunction with the story of the officer who shot a handcuffed suspect in her cruiser – but wasn’t prosecuted because it was “an accident,” here’s another case of preferential treatment for law-enforcement. It seems that Multinomah County, Oregon Sherriff’s Dept. Sergeant Patrick Coffeen had an unregistered machinegun. Now, this will normally land your butt in Club Fed, but not Mr. Coffeen. No, in a plea agreement Sergeant Coffeen plead guilty to attempted unlawful possession of a machine gun, a Class C felony, rather than actual unlawful possession. He had to pay a $2,500 fine, and has lost both his job and his right to arms (which means he won’t be working in law-enforcement again.)

Money quote:

“You can’t have that weapon unless the federal government gives you permission, and he didn’t have that permission”

And the gun ban control groups want to expand that requirement for possession to all guns, not just NFA weapons.

If you have to have permission, IT’S NOT A RIGHT!

Kim du Toit Needs Help!

KevinLeave a comment

Kim ran National Ammo Day last year, and was disappointed in the result.

So, as he says in this post, if he’s going to fail, he’s going to fail BIG! And he needs our help to do it. I suggest that all of us gun-bloggers go sign up and go spread the word.

Now it will be National Ammo WEEK, and involve two weekends in the fine political tradition of stretching the facts.

Let’s get moving!

This is Why My House Has Guns, but NO BARS

KevinLeave a comment

(Third story on this page.)

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Single mother Tina Marie Satterfield tried to make her home safe from crime, but she died early Monday, trapped inside the burning house by window security bars.

“She was like a mother to the other girls. She’d make them smile,” said Bob Monette, manager of the topless club Deja Vu. Satterfield, 24, danced there to support her daughter, Mia, Monette said.

Satterfield, two other Deja Vu dancers and three children died in a fire caused by smoking materials, fire officials said. Mia, 6, survived the fire.

“It wasn’t a party house. My sister just doesn’t like to be alone,” said Teresa Lundberg, Satterfield’s half-sister.

Lundberg recalled that Satterfield had installed the bars out of fear of neighborhood crime.

Sweet Freaking Jebus, Doesn’t ANYONE Take Responsibility for Their Actions Anymore?

KevinLeave a comment

City of Madera, police officer sue stun gun maker over death

The city of Madera and a police officer who killed a suspect after drawing a handgun instead of a Taser device, have put the blame on the manufacturer of the stun gun, alleging the company failed to provide appropriate training.

The city and officer Marcy Noriega have filed a lawsuit against Arizona-based Taser International for the death of Everardo Torres, 24.

Noriega shot Torres in October last year while he was sitting handcuffed in the back of a police car.

Noriega told investigators she intended to stun Torres with her Taser but she accidentally drew and fired her service weapon.

Sounds like the fault of officer Noriega and her training to me. How in the hell can it be Taser’s fault?

Torres had been arrested on suspicion of resisting and delaying police as they tried to quell a loud party.

The city and the officer allege that the manufacturer had a duty to provide notice of the risks involved and that the firm knew its training methods were flawed.

Oh for jebus’s sake. The POLICE DEPARTMENT is at fault for improperly training the officer. They APPROVED it.

They also claim say it wasn’t the first time law enforcement had mistakenly fired bullets instead of an electronic charge, pointing to allegedly similar incidents in other states.

A lawyer representing Taser said the company would have no immediate comment on the lawsuit.

The Torres family filed a federal wrongful death complaint against Madera and Noriega after the city rejected a $10 million claim.

The city of Madera had reportedly offered the Torres family a $350,000 settlement, but the family has declined the settlement, the Fresno Bee reported in Tuesday’s edition.

No criminal charges against Noriega were filed after the District Attorney’s Office concluded that the shooting was accidental.

Bruce Praet, a lawyer who is representing Madera and Noriega, said that officers no longer carry their handgun and Taser on the same side — something that contributed to the Torres shooting.

Taser International produces less-than-lethal weapons for use in the law enforcement, private security and personal defense markets.

The Taser shoots an electric charge that overrides the central nervous system and contracts muscles. This momentarily incapacitates a person without causing permanent injury.

The first time I saw this was at the Sacramento airport – two apparent handguns, one on the belt, one lower down on the leg in a “tactical” holster – and I said right then that they were begging for a negligent discharge. The Taser looked very similar to the duty Glock, and under pressure you’re going to draw the gun you’re used to drawing. But Taser isn’t at fault here – the officer is – the Department is.

Oh hell, let’s sue the gun manufacturer. It went “BANG!” when the officer didn’t really mean for it to.

(Department of “Kill all the Lawyers.”)

Past Time for Some Gun Stuff

KevinLeave a comment

During the effor to pass the 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act Representative William Hughes (DGun-ban, NJ) tacked on an amendment that prohibited any new full-auto weapons to enter the civilian market following enaction of the law.

As a practical matter, this didn’t make any difference where criminal use is concerned, but it did have two interesting effects. First, manufacturers scrambled to make and register as many new full-auto receivers as they could before the ban took effect, and the existing pool of full-auto weapons suddenly skyrocketed in value. The result was that, essentially overnight, the pool of civilian possessable full-auto weapons doubled. And a lot of people who didn’t want one before, did now. Economics 101 – supply and demand.

Now, I’m not really a full-auto fan myself. They’re a lot of fun, but horrendously expensive to shoot much (and if you shoot a full-auto, any range time qualifies as “much.”) I’ve always wanted a classic Thompson, though. The Tommy-gun has always seemed a beautiful weapon. The original 1928 model, deeply blued, with a 50-round drum:

is a piece of art. And priced like it.

I wouldn’t pass up a belt-fed, either, and for that my tastes run toward the H&K MG3, which was an updated and rechambered MG-42 of WWII vintage. Instead of the original 8×57 round of the MG42, the MG3 fired the standard NATO 7.62×51 (.308) round – at 1200 rounds per minute. That’s a sound that has been described as “God tearing phonebooks.” Here’s one:

These go for in the neighborhood of $8k and up now.

But my real interest in a full-auto weapon is modern. I’m a science-fiction fan, and I like to watch Stargate SG-1. In recent seasons the stars have been carrying the Fabrique Nationale (FN) P90 submachinegun – this little beastie:

FN doesn’t sell this gun for civilian use anyway (damnit) but it looks so futuristic I’d really like to have one. It fires an specially designed 5.7x28mm cartridge and the factory round is a 31 grain FMJ with a steel penetrator and aluminum core at 900 rounds per minute. The small diameter (.22 caliber), steel penetrator, and very forward center of gravity allow the projectile to penetrate ballistic armor very well, yet still upset and tumble in the target. It does not, however, fragment well. Expensive, though – FN claims the price per round in 1,000 round lots at about $0.41. OUCH! Magazine capacity is 50. The magazine is perhaps the most unique thing about this unique firearm – it rides on top of the firearm and carries the rounds perpendicular to the axis of the bore. It’s not remarkably expensive, either. According to the FN site they sell for $1,350.

However, with the double-whammy of the Hughes Amendment and the fact that FN doesn’t sell that weapon on the civilian market, I’ll never get one it seems.

(Edited @13:30 to correct the Lautenberg/Hughes amendment error. Specifics of this legislation can be found here and here. I’ve got no excuse – I’m currently reading the last cite. Thanks to Publicola for setting me straight on that one.)

UPDATE: 13:50 – I swear this is a coincidence (great minds and all that) but Hell in a Handbasket made a post on the P90 Sunday. He even mentions Stargate SG-1. Is that weird or what?

Thirty-five States Now, and They’re STILL Predicting the Wild West?

KevinLeave a comment

MSNBC weighs in on Missouri’s renewed attempt to join the majority of the nation in “shall-issue” concealed-carry legislation. So of course we get to read things like this:

The bill’s champions say that allowing concealed weapons could make things safer because criminals would have second thoughts about holding up a store where other customers and maybe even the clerk are packing. Opponents, on the other hand, foresee a Wild West mentality and warn against the increased presence of firearms in the workplace.

Right. The “No Guns Allowed” signs do such a marvelous job of keeping crazed killers out.

“The fact that concealed weapons are currently outlawed in Missouri creates an incentive for businesses looking to expand or relocate in Missouri by increasing safety in the workplace,” said Kristi Wyatt, senior vice president for government relations.

Riiiiight. How, exactly does not allowing law-abiding citizens to carry a firearm “increase workplace safety?” Time for another cartoon:

(Kevin Tuma) The article isn’t completely anti-gun, but I am constantly amazed by gun-bancontrol supporters repeated use of “Wild West” and “blood in the streets” arguments when it has been proved conclusively by over thirty other states that this never happens. See “Cognitive Dissonance” below.

KevinLeave a comment

“To Stop Gun Violence, Go to the Source”

That’s the title of this Washington Post column by Jabari Asim. There’s more than a little common sense that you hardly ever hear in this piece. Such as:

In between going to work and teaching my sons to duck and cover, I never paused to think about gun-control ordinances, and I doubt the predators who tormented our block did either. It was hard to get worked up about such laws, which clearly had little relevance where we lived.

—

Some folks see flaps over firearms as clashes between the gun lobby and peace-loving liberals. Similarly, the battle brewing between Hatch and Washington officials is cast as a fight over home rule, not public safety. Neither of those confrontations may mean much to an ordinary citizen who just wants to get from her car to her house without a bullet bringing her down.

All this debate tends to overshadow a distressing fact: it is not firearms that disproportionately harm black people; black people disproportionately harm black people. I can’t help concluding that folks who really care about the health of besieged communities should concentrate on the shooters instead of the guns.

Go read the whole thing.