The Smallest Minority

Oh Sweet Freaking Jeebus!

(Still on hiatus, but my trip has been slightly delayed.)

L.A. police chief William Bratton gives some remarkable advice to UK police:

‘Avoid Slippery Slope of Armed Police’ – U.S. Chief

British police should not move down the “slippery slope” towards carrying guns, a top officer from the United States warned today.

Los Angeles police chief William Bratton – who achieved worldwide attention for his remarkable crime-busting results in New York – said unarmed police were part of Britain’s character.

“I don’t think you want to go in the direction of increasing the armament of your officers,” he said.

“It’s part of what England is, and also your gun control laws.

“I’ve recently in LA had four incidents where my officers were attacked – completely unprovoked – with machine guns.

Guess what, Chief? Machine guns aren’t all that legal here, either. And the legally owned ones have never been a problem in the hands of the average citizen.

You’re giving credit where none’s due.

“If anything, don’t go down that slippery slope.”

No? They’ve gone down the slope to the point where the only people with firearms are the government and the criminals, and the result? Now the cops there need to be armed.

For that matter, so do the citizens subjects.

You’re advising them to just give up?

Mr Bratton, who was police commissioner of New York from 1994 until last year, made the comments after delivering a speech hosted by think-tank Civitas and a new London civic movement Mind the Gap.

He added that it was “laudable” that surveys of British officers showed the majority were against routine arming of officers.

“They feel that would weaken the bond between police and the community,” he said.

“Both symbolically as well as practically it is not necessary.

“In your country anyone who uses a firearm against a police officer needs to go to jail for the rest of their life because a social obligation has been broken.

Don’t you just love the way that police officers are now special? Apparently the Chief isn’t aware that the first metropolitan police force was established by Sir Robert Peel in 1822. His nine principles of policing were as follows:

The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder.

The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions.

Police must secure the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary observance of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public.

The degree of co-operation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionately to the necessity of the use of physical force.

Police seek and preserve public favour not by catering to public opinion but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law.

Police use physical force to the extent necessary to secure observance of the law or to restore order only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient.

Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.

Apparently every police force extant has forgotten this.

Police should always direct their action strictly towards their functions and never appear to usurp the powers of the judiciary.

The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it.

I think, had the people retained these ideas, the police wouldn’t be having near the problems that they are.

But you know what we’re constantly advised: Let the police handle it. You’re not qualified.

“The first time anyone uses a gun against a police officer that needs to be treated seriously, having violated that contract.”

Mr Bratton’s work in New York led to a 32% reduction in crime and murder rates halved.

He arrived in Los Angeles 18 months ago and in December expected to announce figures showing a 27% decrease in the city’s murder rate and a 5% fall in overall crime, he told an audience at the Athenaeum club in central London.

A poll of 11,635 Metropolitan police officers published last month showed 10% wanted to be armed on and off duty and 26% wanted to be armed on duty only.

I don’t have time right now to pull up the stories, but police have been threatened – and shot – at the station in England. How effective are the police? Well, I’ve reported in this blog numerous accounts of the problems of violent crime in the UK. Just today Ravenwood reports that the police in London are advising women not to jog alone because some wacko is stabbing women joggers just for the fun of it.

But God forbid that women have some weapon with which to defend themselves.

Much less the police.

I Think it I Fixed It

About two years ago I had an 1896 Swedish Mauser “sporterized.” I know some of you purists just winced at the thought, but this was a $100 rifle, no bluing, surface pitting on the barrel, considerable wear and tear – certainly not a collector piece. I had the action rebarreled with a medium-weight chromoly Shilen tube, 1-in-8″ twist, cut to 24″. I had the ‘smith turn down the bolt handle, narrow the trigger guard, then polish and blue the barreled action and install a two-piece scope base. I then installed a Timney trigger and glass bedded the action into a Fajen thumbhole stock, making sure the barrel was free-floated.

I then proceeded over the next two years to try just about every combination of 140-grain bullet and powder to see what it would shoot well. The answer? Nothing. I tried 155 grain bullets. No good. I tried 120 grain bullets. A bit better, but still no great shakes. The gun simply would not group better than 2.5 to 3 MOA, and that only if I was lucky. Since I had built the rifle in order to shoot Metallic Silhouette, which requires you to shoot offhand up to 500 meters, that wasn’t going to be good enough.

Finally, I decided I’d try preloading the barrel. I took an old expired credit card and cut it into strips, then stacked the strips in the barrel channel of the stock, and reinstalled the action. The plastic strips, located about 1/3rd of the way down the barrel channel from the forend, put an upward pressure on the barrel and change its natural vibration frequency.

I loaded up some test ammo last night – 139 grain Lapua boattail hollowpoints over Reloder 19. Here’s my best group of the day, but not by much:

If you can’t read the micrometer, it shows 1.016″ outside to outside. Subtract one bullet diameter of .264″, and the group size is 0.752″

I think I fixed it.

Spoke too Soon

Publicola has a post up I think everyone ought to read.

I mean everyone.

He doesn’t title his posts, but if he did, I’d recommend Patriots & Tyrants, because it reminded me of something Thomas Jefferson wrote to his friend William Smith after Shay’s Rebellion in 1787. The first time I read it, I thought to myself “What a radical SOB Jefferson was.”

Now I read it, and I understand his fear. He feared apathy, and believed it could be the downfall of the nation.

This is what he said:

The British ministry have so long hired their gazetteers to repeat and model into every form lies about our being in anarchy, that the world has at length believed them, the English nation has believed them, the ministers themselves have come to believe them, & what is more wonderful, we have believed them ourselves. Yet where does this anarchy exist? Where did it ever exist, except in the single instance of Massachusets? And can history produce an instance of a rebellion so honourably conducted? I say nothing of it’s motives. They were founded in ignorance, not wickedness. God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, & always, well informed. The past which is wrong will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive; if they remain quiet under such misconceptions it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. We have had 13. states independant 11. years. There has been one rebellion. That comes to one rebellion in a century & a half for each state. What country before ever existed a century & half without a rebellion? & what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon & pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. It is it’s natural manure.

Death-by-a-thousand-cuts. Frog in a pot. Use whatever analogy you want, we the people have been lethargic since 1865, and it has cost us – dearly. And the worst thing is, we haven’t misconceived, we’ve ignored obvious wrongs. And not so obvious ones. Lethargy indeed.

Tytler was right. The cycle is: bondage, faith, courage, liberty, abundance, selfishness, complacency, apathy, dependence, and then back into bondage.

How far into dependence are we?

Read the post below it, too. And the link.

And wonder what happened to our liberty.

(Edited to add:) In light of Jefferson’s advice, I think Claire Wolfe is wrong. It’s not too early to shoot the bastards, it’s too late. They’re too entrenched to respond as Jefferson advises they should.

Which brings to mind Churchill’s quote…

Blog Hiatus

My apologies, but I’m going to be out of town for about a week, with no internet access. Therefore I will be unable to update this blog until Friday evening 12/12 at the earliest. I might get something in tomorrow, Sunday 12/7 – Pearl Harbor Day, but I might not. I’ve got a lot of things to do, not the least of which is prepare for this trip.

See you next week. Thanks for tuning in.

Another Story You Won’t Be Reading in the English Papers

(Via Acidman) The Atlanta Urinal Constipation Journal Constitution reports – very briefly – on a defensive gun use:

Would-be robber slain by intended victim

A suspected armed robber was shot and killed by his intended victim in Clayton County, police said Wednesday.

The incident occurred shortly after midnight at Independence Park on Thomas Road near Jonesboro.

A man was walking with his 11-year-old daughter when the suspect “approached them and attempted to rob them,” said Clayton County police Lt. Joseph Woodall.

Gotta wonder what the father and daughter were doing in the park at 11:00 PM, but this is America – they’re allowed. Being in a park at night does not give someone the right to rob you.

“The victim pulled his own firearm and fired some rounds at the suspect,” Woodall said.

“The suspect fled about 30 yards and fell over.”

The suspect, who was in his late teens or 20s, died at the scene. “He still had in his hand a stolen Glock pistol,” Woodall said.

Hmm…”late teens or 20s.” That means that to the Brady Bunch, the victim goblin was a “child?” A stolen Glock. Gee, if no one had guns, they couldn’t be stolen, right? Well, not exactly. According to this story (registration may be required):

Federal agents in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, were looking for guns stolen from an agent’s car.

The missing high powered weapons are an automatic rifle and a Remington shotgun with a ballistic vest.

The FBI weren’t sure if it was a random break-in or if the thieves knew the weapons were there.

The FBI is offering a reward for any information leading to an arrest.

And when they say “automatic rifle,” they mean “machine gun.” This means we’ve got a guy with a machine gun and body armor out running around. Marvelous. Remember also, the federal government reported “losing” several hundred guns just last year. And there’s this charming story of how a police officer managed to leave an AR-15 laying by the side of the road. Anyway:

A stolen vehicle that police believe was the suspect’s getaway car was also found in the park.

Stolen Glock, stolen car, attempted armed robbery, in his 20’s.

How long was his record, and why wasn’t his ass in jail?

Police say the father acted in self-defense and will not face charges in connection with the shooting. The names of the two men have not been released.

Nice of them not to arrest and jail the man like the cops in Florida did to Mr. Spaulding.

I wonder if he got to keep his pistol?

OUTRAGE! (continued)

Publicola updates us on the status of 71 year-old Melvin B. Spaulding, who was arrested and jailed without bond for the audacity of defending his friend against three young attackers rather than dialing 9-1-1 and waiting to be rescued by the AUTHORITAHS!

Seems Mr. Spaulding, who has since been released, and has not yet been charged with anything has been told that, even though he has a concealed-carry permit, he’s not allowed to have a firearm.

The story is here.

Bastards.

We’ve Got RSS!

I think.

Via Blogstreet, I think this provides an RSS feed for The Smallest Minority (about a day late, but better than nothing?)

http://www.blogstreet.com/rss/13828.rss

Pardon my ignorance on the subject.

This is NEAT

Being a South Park Republican type, I found this little tool pretty entertaining. (Via the Everlasting Phelps) The South Park Create a Character. Here’s my interpretation of me on the average weekend:

Only I don’t look that young.

This, however, is NOT neat: Read Phelps’ post on the abuse of eminent domain in Norfolk, Virginia.

Now do you understand why my character is holding a rifle evil bullet-hose militia weapon?

I Thought the Idea was to PUNISH Criminals

Oh sweet bleeding Jebus. Kim linked to this story about an Austrailian police officer:

He faces one charge of wounding with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm.

He also faces three charges of firing a firearm in a manner likely to endanger the safety of any other person.

Why? Because he shot at a man trying to run him over.

But that’s not the best story! From a link on that page, we get this:

Prison punishment concern

PRISONERS losing privileges and being moved to higher security areas as punishment has been criticised by the state Ombudsman.

In his annual report, Eugene Biganovsky raises concerns a section of legislation allowing prisoners to be moved at the discretion of prison officials or losing privileges was being abused.

He cited three cases:

A prisoner who allegedly threatened to take an officer hostage was stripped of electricity in his cell and had his phone calls limited.

An inmate wrongly accused of being involved in building and operating a still at Cadell Training Centre was moved to a high security jail yet faced no charges.

A television was taken away from a prisoner accused of “abusing a nurse”.

Poor babies! They should file suit because they’re not being tucked in at night!

First the police can’t do their jobs, and second the prisons can’t either!

And they wonder why violent crime is on the rise in Australia!

Read This and then Tell Me that Gun Control “Works”

Read this excellent editorial from the British paper The Guardian: Gun crime spreads ‘like a cancer’ across Britain

Money quote:

Handgun crime has soared past levels last seen before the Dunblane massacre of 1996 and the ban on ownership of handguns introduced the year after Thomas Hamilton, an amateur shooting enthusiast, shot dead 16 schoolchildren, their teacher and himself in the Perthshire town.

It was hoped the measure would reduce the number of handguns available to criminals. Now handgun crime is at its highest since 1993.

As well as being converted from air guns and blank firing weapons, handguns are being imported from eastern Europe and beyond. A good quality semi-automatic handgun can be bought on the streets of London for as little as £200.

That’s about $350.00 – about the retail cost of a decent pistol here in the U.S.

Sure, gun control works. It disarms the victims just about perfectly.

You’ll note that there aren’t any stories like these in the British press.