How to Speak of Assault Weapons Ban

I think Rustmeister has some good advice here for how to talk to people about Assault Weapons, and suggests a sort of “30 second commerical” to get a conversation going.  I think if you generally appear reasonable, and approach the topic from an angle that can be understood by a person who’s probably not familiar with the topic, other than what they see on TV and hear in the media.

Go Dustin!

We had to revise the figures for new NRA members recruited, because Dustin of Dustin’s Gun Blog managed to recruit a whopping 44 NRA members on his own that he didn’t know about until he checked his recruiting stats with NRA.  That’s great work.  Justin increased his voice in the gun rights movement 44 times!

Stay Classy Mr. President

This doesn’t speak very highly of President Obama’s character:

According to TSO who was at the “Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball”, this newly sworn-in President for the first time in 56 years blew off the ball (that’s 14 Inaugurations).

That means even Bill Clinton, who had an uneasy relationship with the military, went to the American Legion ball to honor the service of these men.  Jimmy Carter?  Went too.  Carter was a navy man, even if his foreign policy was disastrous.  Obama?  No votes there, those guys didn’t vote for him, so who cares, right?

NAGV Protests Possible Clinton Replacement

Rumor has it that Patterson is considering a pro-gun state senator to replace Hillary Clinton in the US Senate:

However, Gillibrand, a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights, is still on the radar screen, and that worries Jackie Hilly, NYAGV’s executive director.

“I don’t think she represents most New Yorkers on gun-control issues,” Hilly said Wednesday.

Gillibrand, a Democrat who easily won a second term last year, has received an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association, which opposes many gun-control measures. Hilly said the rating shows Gillibrand is out of step with most New Yorkers.

I think she represents far more New Yorkers than you do, Jackie Hilly.  I’m willing to bet the number of NRA members in New York State far exceeds the members of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence.

Brownells Will Be the Ruin of Me

I spent a good deal of time last night playing with their AR builder, and I have to say, it’s a great idea.  Brownells should really take time to make a better web site too, which has been one of the reasons I’m not a more loyal customer.  MidwayUSA’s web site is just a lot easier to use, and more useful.  Nonetheless, Brownells will end up getting some of my money for this, maybe a lot of my money.  Here’s what I configured last night:

Dream AR

You can click to get a bigger picture. This assumes I can either buy through an FFL, or make my own AR-15 Lower Receiver. I didn’t include that in the price, though I put a lower on there just to make it look OK. It’s not included in the price tally. My only complaint about the configurator, other than the fact that it will quickly drain my wallet, is that when choosing a barrel band for the front sight, it won’t put itself in the right spot, and I think the picture showing on there is upside down. I also wish you had links in the inventory list, so you could easily review your list to make sure you know what you are getting. Other than that, this is a highly innovative idea on the part of Brownells, and I have to commend them for it.

Republicans Delay Holder Vote

The committee vote on Eric Holder was supposed to happen today at 2:30PM, but it looks like the Republicans managed to delay the vote until he answers some of their questions.  I will keep you all up to date as to whether this source is credible.  If the committee approves Holder, his confirmation will be discharged, and voted on by the entire Senate.

UPDATE: Politico is reporting the same thing.  It seems the issue of contention is making sure he won’t prosecute intelligence agents who waterboarded suspected terrorists, rather than making sure he won’t crap all over the Constitution.  Glad to see the Republicans have their priorities straight.