August 2011 – Page 12 – Shall Not Be Questioned

It’s Been Ten Years Already?

Instapundit turns ten this week. I started reading Instapundit around the 2002 timeframe, so I’ve only been reading nine of those, but it seems like just yesterday these blogs were something new, and the establishment didn’t know quite what to make of them.

Instapundit is often called the Blogfather, for inspiring a lot of other people to take up the idea, including Eugene Volokh. While Instapundit was one of my first regular blogs, it was SayUncle and Bitter who were my impetus into this world.

Astroturfing, Part MMCDLXXXI

Days of Our Trailer uncovers another attempt by a Joyce funded group to look like they are the real McCoy. You can usually tell the fake ones quickly, by the fact that they don’t take comments, and never did. Most real bloggers like getting comments.

Ugliest AR Ever

The guy took a hacksaw right at the front sight block. It’s lucky he filed all the proper forms with the ATF, and got his tax stamp first. It’s a well known fact that until you rub your federal tax stamp on the barrel first, it’s completely impossible for someone to cut through it with a hack saw. I’m not sure what physics is at work there, but researchers at the Brady Center for Metallurgical Research will be quick to tell you.

Guns Near a Plane

Apparently there’s some pant s**tting hysteria (PSH) going on over a firing range which is located near an airport. At least PSH from local authorities. The FAA has apparently never been concerned about the location of the range, and neither has Scott AFB, which unlike the civilian airport, has its flightpath for the main runway directly over the range.

My opinion would be that the airport is just a pretense. Someone doesn’t like the icky gun range in their neighborhood. Aviation folks and shooters actually have a lot in common in terms of our hobbies. If anyone out there has Netflix, I would highly recommend getting the documentary “One Six Right,” which is about Van Nuys Airport in California, the busiest General Aviation airport int he world. Many of the fears aviation guys have, about airports being closed because of noise complaints, and the loss of people interested in flying, reflect many of our same problems. Much like a shooting range, once neighbors manage to shut it down, it’s gone forever.

Gunny Lawn Ornamentation

I always thought lawn gnomes were goofy, but this one is awesome.

Michael Moore: Not Liking the First Amendment Much Either

Eugene Volokh has a look at Moore’s latest statement suggesting that Standard and Poors be thrown in jail for downgrading the federal government. It’s kind of amazing how weird the left is getting lately. It wasn’t apparent eventually we were going to max out the credit card?

What Part of “Elected Board” is Hard to Understand?

I’m still amazed how much our opponents live in complete and utter denial about exactly what NRA is:

It’s a wonder the NRA retains Ted Nugent on its’ Board. He should be an embarrassment. But maybe the NRA agrees with the extremist nonsense and offensive language spewed by this man. It’s good to have someone on your Board to stir up the ranks of the members.

NRA does not “retain” Ted Nugent on their board. He is not appointed by men in some cigar filled back room. He is on the NRA Board because NRA’s members put him there. Nugent isn’t the kind of guy who personally appeals to me, but a lot of NRA members love him, and so he wins his election handily. I realize this is difficult to understand, because Brady does not have an elected Board, probably because, before you can be a membership driven organization, it helps to, you know, have members.

UPDATE: It would seem she changed the wording around to more accurately reflect the actual state of affairs in terms of how NRA operates. Good.

Crossing the Street

In an e-mail conversation with the reader who sent me the Fox video:

Anyway anyway, I am torn between tactical wisdom, crossing the street, and emboldening the knuckleheads by doing so.Â I mean, sure, you and I and other SD minded folks can do it, but if everyone does we’ve just ceded the ground.Â I fear it could start edging into “enough good men doing nothing” territory.

I don’t generally view crossing the street as emboldening the group. In my mind, making myself an easy target would accomplish that to a greater degree. My main purpose for avoidance is to a) not run the risk of getting beaten or surprise attacked, and b) not to get myself into a situation where the only way I can get out of it is to shoot a group of kids. I don’t have any loftier social goals than my own well being. Taking care to avoid also forces the group to reveal its cards earlier, and thus helps take away the element of surprise. If the group pursues you, you know it’s trouble, and can can step up avoidance, or prepare to defend yourself.

If I were the principal of that school, I would take fairly drastic action, including collective punishment of the entire school until the weasels are ratted out. There are students in that school who know who did this, but who won’t talk. It is a grave shame that modern political correctness, where no one is responsible for their own actions, would preclude any mention to the students of the approximately 30,000 people in Philadelphia, with another 60,000 or so people in suburbs, who are licensed to carry a firearms in the City, and make sure they think long and hard about the consequences of picking random people off the street and beating them up.

Situational Awareness

If you’re going to go to the City of Philadelphia, you have to pay careful attention to your surroundings.

Caught On Tape: Philadelphia Teen Mob Attack: MyFoxPHILLY.com

You would do well to steer clear of groups of young males, even if they look relatively benign on approach. I would no longer worry about seeming racist for crossing the street. That’s the sad reality of the City now. For your own safety, you must assume the group’s intentions are poor, and alter your route. If the group follows you, be prepared to defend yourself quickly and violently.

This is not a dangerous neighborhood. These kinds of attacks are happening all over the city in nice areas, and it’s not going to stop until the city either ruthlessly prosecutes the perpetrators, or someone start shooting these hoodlums in self-defense. I don’t give good odds on the former.

UPDATE: Just realized the Fox video is embeddable.

Does Gun Control Save Lives in Riots?

The Boston Globe’s Ben Jacobs ponders:

Compared to similar outbreaks of unrest in the United States, like the 1992 riots in Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict, there has been relatively little loss of life. In LA, 53 people died; in the UK, four were dead as of Wednesday afternoon. This likely can be attributed to one major difference between the US and the UK, which is the low level of gun ownership in Britain (35 of the LA victims were killed by gunshot wounds).

How many of those 35 people killed by gunshot wounds in the LA riots deserved it? One of the biggest philosophical differences between us, and people who are repulsed by firearms, is that we accept that some people’s criminal behavior makes it completely justifiable to shoot them. As long as the people killed in a riot were killed because they were flouting law and order, I have no problem with it. Saving lives should not be the measure the civility of dealing with a riot; how quickly law and order is restored and maintained is the measure of civility.