The Smallest Minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities. – Ayn Rand
Jeff Cooper has Left Us.
Doubtless (if you read the gun blogs) you’re already aware of this. I found out last night, but Blogger was being wonky, so I couldn’t post. I’m glad I didn’t. Joe Huffman has an excellent piece up, far better than anything I would have written: 147 quotes from the man. Go read, and reflect on a life well-lived and a man who will be greatly missed.
Pushback?.
Here’s a rather interesting video on YouTube. Watch it while it’s still up. I don’t imagine it will be for long.
(h/t MadOgre.)
UPDATE: Here’s a larger Quicktime version not likely to disappear.
Another update: Apparently Kim du Toit and Mr. Wilcox, the producer of the film linked here, are at odds. I’m going to assume that the “crappy little snuff film” Kim refers to is this piece, though I might very well be incorrect.
Just thought y’all might want to know.
Here he is again! Associate professor of History Saul Cornell of Ohio State University and its “Second Amendment Research Center at the John Glenn Institute” has published a new tome on the topic of just what the Second Amendment doesn’t protect. Unsurprisingly, it’s getting rave reviews (I seem to remember that Michael Bellisile’s Arming America got glowing reviews, too….) Entitled A Well Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America (working title, Armed in the Holy Cause of Liberty: Guns and the American Constitution – but I guess that one was a little too… provocative?) Associate professor Cornell attempts to shed just a little unbiased light on the subject.
Or, at least, that’s what he wants you to believe.
Clayton Cramer does his typical masterful job of dissecting the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s laudatory op-ed/book review with, you know, facts and citations that indicate just how far off in never-never-land Associate professor Cornell really is.
Clayton opens:
Saul Cornell Is Suddenly No Longer a Partisan on Gun Control
At least, that’s what this editorial from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune claims…
—
Any of you who are familiar with Professor Cornell’s work can start the insane giggling right now–yeah, he’s not really on one side or the other, nor is he trying to disarm the masses.
Numerous other bloggers have noted that the “Second Amendment Research Center at the John Glenn Institute” is largely funded by the extremely anti-gun Joyce Foundation (see this post, and this post, and this one.)
But Associate professor Cornell? “He’s neither antigun nor progun. He really isn’t a gun guy at all. His thing is history.”
Right. Cue hysterical laughter.
But as I said in my first response to the good Associate professor,
He doesn’t have to be right, he just has to be convincing. The ill-informed who read this piece think “Hey, he’s an authority, he must be right.” That’s why his side has to keep repeating the big lies.
Clayton notes the same thing I did:
It just gets more and more “alternate universe” the deeper I read
As I said in my reply to Associate professor Cornell’s email:
You, an historian, have taken it upon yourself to distort history – something that you yourself claim is unacceptable. You claim that the Justice department’s recognition of the “standard model” of the Second Amendment is somehow “well beyond” a “living document” re-interpretation. I’m sorry, Professor, but if you actually believe that you’re delusional, and if you know better you’re a bald-faced liar. I honestly cannot tell which.
I think I have a better handle on that question now.
I think we all do, at least those of us who are paying attention.
But what about the general readership of the Strib?
THAT is the fight we have to fight each and every day.
Cashing in on the Guilt.
Do you really think we want those laws to be observed? We want them broken. There is no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is to crack down on criminals. When there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking the law. Create a nation of lawbreakers and then you can cash in on the guilt. Now that’s the system! – Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, 1957
Looks like California, with the assistance of the BATF, is doing exactly that:
LA Gun Task Force Serves another Search Warrant
The LA County Gun Task Force has served another search warrant on the home of another member of the fifty caliber community. On Monday September 18th, eighteen police cars swarmed the neighborhood where the FCSA member lives and served a search warrant signed by Judge Steven Kleifield of the LA County Superior Court. The officers were at the residence for several hours and confiscated all semi-automatic firearms belonging to the victim.
The probable cause for issuing the search warrant was not available in the body of the affidavit so the reason for the search is unknown at this time. It should be noted the LA Gun Task Force used “High Risk” entry tactics by sending a SWAT Entry team to make the initial entry into the victim’s residence. Gun owners in LA County need to be prepared to expect these kinds of entry tactics and respond to commands from any officers if you are contacted.
FCI wants everyone to be aware that the LA County Gun Task Force is lead by agents from BATFE; LAPD and LASO. They appear to have focused their attention on members of the fifty caliber community and are aggressively trying to arrest law abiding citizens for just being “Gun Owners”.
In the situation that occurred this past Monday the victim had his entire firearms collection seized and he was told charges are going to be filed because he had in his possession linked ammunition in quantities of more than 10 rounds of ammunition at a time. This has been interpreted as a violation of the “High Capacity Magazine” portion of the Assault Weapons Act in CA. The victim owns a Semi-auto M2; a semi-auto M3 and a 30 caliber semi-auto 1919
Everyone living in California needs to pay attention to what is happening in Los Angeles. This can happen to you simply because someone who knows about your firearms calls the LA Gun Task Force and gives them information they interpret as a violation of the Draconian Gun Laws they have been passing for the last five years.
We are asking everyone to review what you have in your gun safe or workshop. Take the time to find out what is against the law and what is not. Remember, our first reported incident was over a flash hider on an M-1A and some armor piercing projectiles. Don’t let this happen to YOU.
We are not able to identify the person involved in the incident on Monday or give you any more info about the circumstances about what occurred at this time. We will advise and update as we can.
John Burtt, Chmn
FCI
“…charges are going to be filed because he had in his possession linked ammunition in quantities of more than 10 rounds of ammunition at a time. This has been interpreted as a violation of the “High Capacity Magazine” portion of the Assault Weapons Act in CA.” Just as possession of a Marlin Model 60 – still with the factory tags hanging off of it – in New Jersey is interpreted as possession of an “assault weapon” because said Marlin holds sixteen rounds in its tubular magazine. And possession of ten rounds of tracer ammo can get you five years in prison in California.
As the New Jersey court said, “When dealing with guns, the citizen acts at his peril.”
They keep this up, some of that peril is going to shift.
Which of These Two Statements Is True?.
Please read the following story (h/t: Zendo Deb):
Woman defends herself from attack with gun
By Courtney Reese/Times Record News
September 21, 2006A 38-year-old woman staying at the Homewood Suites in Wichita Falls turned the tables Tuesday night on a potential attacker in the parking lot.
The woman’s father said she pulled her .380 automatic pistol on the man, who came up behind her as she was getting sinus medicine from her van about 9 p.m.
He gave the following information about the incident:
The man asked her, “Do you have anything good in that van?”
The woman knew she was in trouble. She told him yes and moved to the front passenger-side door.
She pulled out her pistol and heard a knife click open.
When she looked back, she saw the man was holding a knife pointed downward in his hand.
She quickly turned, pointed the gun right at him and asked, “Are you really sure you want to do whatever you’re going to do?”
He took off running, the father said.
No shots fired. No one wounded on either side. No crime completed. One pair of stained skivvies.
How dare she act like Harry Callahan!
The woman immediately went back inside the hotel, alerted the staff, and they called police.
Her father said she was calm at the time, going into “auto-pilot” and remembering everything she had learned in the classes she took to get her gun permit, he said.
“Of course, three hours later she was a basket case,” he said. “She felt violated and real anxious.”
Not as violated as she would have felt had he succeeded in robbing her – and whatever else he had planned.
This wasn’t the first time the woman had faced a trying situation.
Her father said her fiance was involved in a shootout in Houston, which made her realize she needed to take precautions herself.
“When that happens to somebody close to you, you learn,” he said.
Unfortunately, some don’t even learn then.
So not even a year ago, the West Texas woman decided to get licensed to carry a gun, something her brother had been trying to convince her of because her job requires travel, her father said.
Sgt. Joe Snyder, public information officer with the Wichita Falls Police Department, said it’s important that anyone carrying a gun be aware of not only his or her own surroundings, but also those of the attacker.
“You’re responsible for where a bullet goes,” he said. “You don’t want to hit innocent bystanders.”
But even more than that, Snyder said a weapon should not be used as a scare tactic.
“If you are going to pull a weapon, you should be prepared to use it.”
In general, it’s best to travel in pairs went it’s dark outside, Snyder said.
“Park in well-lighted, well-traveled areas so you aren’t put in a one-on-one scenario,” he said.
The woman who was accosted is one of more than 150,000 people in Texas licensed to carry firearms. In Texas, carrying a loaded handgun in a vehicle is legal when the owner is traveling a substantial distance.
(Just so you know, 150,000 represents less than 1% of the eligible population of Texas.)
A couple of years ago I had a long, drawn out cross-blog discussion with Australian Tim Lambert over laws restricting weapons. In one post defending restrictive laws, Tim stated the following:
If the law disarms attackers, then it can make self defence possible where it would have been impossible if the attacker was armed.
Reader Sarah of Carnaby Fudge slightly re-worded that statement in a comment:
If the law disarms citizens, then it can make self defence impossible where it would have been possible if the citizen was armed.
Which of these two statements is demonstrably true, and why?
I Hereby Reiterate My Promise…
…to kick Ted Rall in the crotch (I doubt he has any balls) if I ever meet him in person:
On top of that, I’m pretty sure he wants to be dominated by her.
For some reason, Robert Mapplethorpe photos come to mind…
Hiatus. Again.
Sorry, folks, but given the amount of work I’m doing at the present time, blogging’s got to take a back seat. My apologies for the free ice cream shortage. Perhaps I’ll be able to blog more during my upcoming two weeks off in October, but in the mean time, things are going to be damned sparse around TSM.
Four Years!?!?.
Isn’t that, like, 28 in Internet years?
The Carnival of the Vanities celebrates its 208th incarnation at its new home, First Carnival. According to the opening paragraph:
Four years ago, something happened that was to change the face of blogging: CotV #1 appeared. The very first edition of the Carnival of the Vanities featured 15 participants. Of those, I’m aware of 9 who are still blogging.
That’s pretty amazing when you think about the ephemeral nature of most blogs.
Anyway, congratulations on the big 4.0!
Stories the MSM Doesn’t Tell.
Perusing my archives I came across this post about 72 year-old Lena Haddix of Lawton, OK who volunteered for deployment as a civilian Department of Defense employee to the Middle East. That was in November of 2004. Now I find this story about Ms. Haddix:
DALLAS, Jan. 9, 2006 — Folks in Oklahoma are readjusting to an image not typically associated with the global war on terrorism, a 73-year old great-grandmother just back from Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Lena Haddix, a native of Lawton, has spent the last six months in full battle armor helping troops find snacks, shampoo and other American products at the Army & Air Force Exchange Service Post Exchange/Base Exchange in Camp Liberty, Iraq.
The personification of the Exchange’s motto of “We Go Where You Go,” Haddix recently returned from her second voluntary deployment to the Middle East as a store manager. After previously volunteering to work in Kuwait, Haddix decided her work wasn’t done and went back for a second tour of duty, this time to Baghdad, Iraq.
“I’m glad to do it for the soldiers,” said Haddix. She explained that troops came to expect her presence at the store and often called her mom.
“When the convoys would come back, the troops would stop by the store and shout, ‘Mom, we made it!’”
After being gone for almost a year, Haddix will return to the Fort Sill Post Exchange to continue to support troops and their families here at home.
“People like Lena are critical to the morale of our deployed troops,” said AAFES Chief of Contingency Planning Lt. Col. Steven Dean. “It is only through them that AAFES is able to deliver retail, fast food and telecommunication services that they would expect to find back home to a war zone.”
When asked about her time overseas and if she would consider going back, Haddix replied, “I’m thinking about it.”
AAFES currently operates more than 60 stores throughout Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. Troops can find a variety of items from basic supplies including socks, personal care items and beverages to comfort items including televisions, DVD players and movies.
That is just too cool!
