Well, if we can’t laugh at ourselves, who can we laugh at? I thought this was pretty funny.
Month: November 2007
Wrong Kind of Enforcement
One of the problems with “enforce the laws that are already on the books” is that a lot of the laws that are already on the book are morally reprehensible, and constitutionally suspect. Clayton Cramer points to a specific example.
I Don’t Carry a Gun …
Counterfeit?
Ahab is confused as to why Liberty Dollars are illegal. At first I thought this was another case of the federal government acting outside its authority, but after more research I’m not sure. While I will still say that they should find better use of resources than picking on Liberty Dollars, the Liberty Dollar does appear to be in violation of federal law. The article mentions:
The U.S. Mint recently issued a statement saying “prosecutors with the Department of Justice have determined that the use of these gold and silver NORFED ‘Liberty Dollar’ medallions as circulating money is a federal crime.”
“Consumers who are considering the purchase or use of these items should be aware that they are not genuine United States Mint bullion coins and they are not legal tender.”
That would imply they are being charged under Title 18, Chapter 25 of the United States Code, titled “Counterfeiting and Forgery”. They certainly aren’t guilty of counterfeiting, but my guess is that they are probably being charged under this:
Section 486. Uttering coins of gold, silver or other metal
Whoever, except as authorized by law, makes or utters or passes, or attempts to utter or pass, any coins of gold or silver or other metal, or alloys of metals, intended for use as current money, whether in the resemblance of coins of the United States or of foreign countries, or of original design, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
It says the coins were of gold and silver, so I’m guessing these guys are nailed. The power to mint currency is one reserved to Congress, so you can’t really argue that it’s outside the federal government’s purview.
UPDATE: Just noticed there’s more about this over at Reason. It seems to me that the argument that because you had to use federal reserve notes to pay for your liberty dollars, that they were fraudulent, seems off base to me. I have to use federal reserve notes to buy video game tokens, poker chips, or various other substitutes for currencies. Are these fraud as well? I will read through the affidavit. But it seems to me the only thing they could be guilty of, based on the limited information I have, is utterance of silver or gold coin.
UPDATE: After reading through the affidavit, I agree there is evidence of fraud. It seems they were allegedly making claims that their currencies were backed 100% by silver, when that was not, in fact, the case. There is also accusations of fraudulent marketing practices and such.
Paul’s Common Sense
Let’s see just how common Paul Helmke’s sense really is. He’s pushing Massengill’s recommendations, using Virginia Tech as the lever for his arguments:
- All states should report information necessary to conduct federal background checks on gun purchases.
As I’ve said, I don’t have too many problems with HR2640. But it needs to be paid for, which is why it’s being held up by Coburn.
- Virginia should require background checks for all firearms sales, including those at gun shows.
Cho didn’t buy his guns at a gun show. So why does this matter? Only because it’s what they’ve been pushing for years.
- The Virginia General Assembly should adopt legislation in the 2008 session clearly establishing the right of every institution of higher education in the Commonwealth to regulate the possession of firearms on campus if it so desires.
Because the regulation on the possession of firearms on campus worked so well to stop Cho, clearly we need more of the same. Sorry Paul, last I checked the student manuals at most universities weren’t terribly effective at stopping bullets.
Carjacking Hi-End SUVs
There was a carjacking in Ambler the other day, which is five minutes from where I work. I drive through that town every day. I’m happy the Philadelphia Police have caught these guys, because they were dangerous individuals. A lot of folks ask why I carry a firearm, and this is it. I worry about Philadelphia’s crime problem traveling into the suburbs, and it’s bound to happen. I worry not so much because I could be a target, but because suburban folks reaction won’t just be “Man, I need to think about protecting myself.” They might join in the delusion promulgated by our media culture that we can take guns away from criminals if we pass Just One More LawTM
Eric has more. Apparently the woman who was a victim in Havertown, which was the same carjacking ring, managed to get the gun away from the carjacker and shoot him. I didn’t even know that, because the press here didn’t mention it. My advice to people in the Philadelphia suburbs worried about car jacking is twofold. One, it’s better to have your own firearm than have to take your attacker’s first. Two, your car is a much more effective weapon than any firearm. If they catch you while driving, don’t be afraid to plow the bastards down.
Parade Article
I noticed that a few folks are covering the article in Parade that appeared last week. Of course, the best rebuttal I can offer to these claims by a reporter, who clearly didn’t bother to do any research beyond Brady Campaign talking points, is from the ATF itself:
Firearms selected for tracing are not chosen for purposes of determining which types, makes or models of firearms are used for illicit purposes. The firearms selected do not constitute a random sample and should not be considered representative of the larger universe of all firearms used by criminals, or any subset of that universe. Firearms are normally traced to the first retails seller, and sources reported for firearms traced do not necessarily represent the sources or methods by which firearms in general are acquired for use in crime.
That’s what the ATF says, in bold print, on the second page right before the present the data they collect on tracing trends. Of course, that doesn’t stop people from doing exactly what the ATF says shouldn’t be done with the data.
Response to John Edwards
John Edwards, who’s views on the second amendment are well known:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQFhdFfl6rM[/youtube]
Of course, that hasn’t stopped John Edwards from saying he supports the second amendment and loves hunters:
I think, first and foremost, that we need a president who actually believes in the Second Amendment and in the individual right to own firearms. And, the importance in that, both for hunting and for protection, and I do.
Do these people think we’re stupid? If John Edwards supports the second amendment, I’d hate to see what not supporting it would look like. I was happy that Field and Stream yesterday printed Chris Cox’s response to Edwards:
Edwards, of course, ran on the ticket with John Kerry at a time when Kerry had sponsored legislation that would have banned common semi-automatic hunting shotguns like the Remington 1100, Browning Auto-5 and Benelli SBE. His running mate told America’s hunters that they could not be trusted with these “assault weapons.â€
Apparently they do think we’re stupid. Not a great way to win over voters. Read the whole thing.
Spam Filtering
I’ve decided that Akismet, which is the spam filter that comes with WordPress, is a pile of steaming manure. Does anyone else have a WordPress based spam filter that they could recommend that isn’t annoying? Apparently Akismet is treating both Joe Huffman’s comments, and my pingbacks as spam. I have no idea how it makes these determinations, because it’s a giant black box. There’s no way to tell it that it’s mistaken and have it remember. There’s no white list feature that I can tell. So screw it. I think I’m open to trying something else if anyone has a suggestion.
UPDATE: Looks like they have resolved the problem. I’ll stick with Akismet for now. The help is appreciated.
Indoor Silhouette: I Suck
I went to try indoor silhouette at the club tonight. Just for practice. The short of it is that I suck. I hit maybe 5 animals. The sights on my pistol were way off, and with our bullet traps in the back, I couldn’t really see where my shot was going to know how to adjust my aim. That’s what I get for just showing up at the range after not having checked my sights. I got so frustrated I almost wanted to pull out my Glock and blast the animals with something I was more comfortable shooting. Most of the folks there were competing in the scoped rifle category that I could see. I think next time I’ll show up with the 10/22. I prefer shooting rifle anyway.