John Richardson notes there’s at least one thing the ATF seems to do competently, which is handle C&R licenses. I also possess a C&R, and agree it’s a good way to enhance your collection with relatively minimal BS. You can also get pistols without going through any of the Pennsylvania paperwork (which means it ends up in the state police registry database). But there’s a reason for that. If you look at the top of your C&R, you will notice it says “Department of the Treasury” rather than “Department of Justice.” The same bill that established the Department of Homeland Security also split ATF in two, sending the enforcement side to Justice, and leaving the bean counting and licensing functions in Treasury. This effectively makes them two agencies, in fact if not in name. The people responsible for Fast and Furious were in DOJ.
Year: 2011
A Guide to the Pennsylvania Texting Ban
Our state legislature has recently passed a texting ban, while driving. John Micek, author of the Capitol Ideas blog, has an article in the Morning Call outlining the conditions of the ban. Looks like the car has to actually be in motion, so you can still bang out a text at a stoplight, or sitting in halted traffic. This seems like a fair compromise to me. I’m against this ban, but more because it’s been shown that it does nothing to increase public safety (people just hide the phone they are texting on, taking their eyes further off the road), rather than because I think you can text while driving safely.
Greatest Threat to the Second Amendment
It’s not the anti-gun people, it’s guys like this:
The attorney for a Kingsburg[, CA] man charged with allegedly possessing 33 assault rifles, a grenade launcher and a silencer said Thursday that the Second Amendment gives him the right to collect guns.
Apparently some of those assault rifles were actual assault rifles. This is not going to end well folks, if this argument moves forward. I was always pretty pessimistic about saving the right to machine guns in court. I am now getting pessimistic we’ll ever get rid of bans on assault weapons. We really need a few more Supreme Court cases, and some changes on the federal courts, before we’re ready to start litigating on bans on narrow classes of firearms rather than bans on broad categories of firearms.
Had Obama not won, we could have gotten there much faster. But he won, and by historical precedent, he’s likely to win a second term. I think we might have to write off “assault weapons” as protected by the Second Amendment, at least by the courts. Certainly we’ll fight bans politically, and probably win, but that won’t help the half-dozen or so states who restrict narrow categories of firearms. Even Eugene Volokh doesn’t seem too optimistic about slipping that by the federal courts.
There are going to be too many guys like this out there taking cases too soon. If you think about the kind of logic allowing selective banning of classes of weapons requires, it blows a hole in the Second Amendment the size of a barn.
Tips for Influencing Canadians on Gun Rights
A timely topic, given the debate happening in Canada over the long gun registry, is how to influence Canadians when it comes to gun rights. Exurban Kevin, who is an expat from the Great White North offers some good advice on that, even when it comes to speaking about concealed carry. My understanding of Canadian gun laws suggests that guns that are most concealable are generally prohibited firearms. But there’s still plenty of concealable firearms that have barrels over 105mm. Plus, I can’t think of any better way to create a constituency for changing the law.
Myths About Shotguns
Brady Campaign to Prevent Shooting Ranges?
Looks like Miguel had a run in with a Brady supporter on Facebook, where the supporter claimed to be facing continuous 50 caliber fire for ten hours straight. Miguel was skeptical of such a claim, since a 10 hour firefight on the streets of Orlando would surely make the papers. Turns out she bought a house near a gun range and doesn’t like the noise. Miguel notes, “It’s called the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, not the Brady Campaign to Prevent Loud Noises.”
ACORN Behind Occupy?
I’m shocked. Shocked I tell you. Apparently they are going into extreme cover-up mode. Have these people been weaned from the public teat yet? I hope so.
More on Searches
A commenter brought up an interesting point in regards to the search of Cemetery’s vehicle, from a lawyer who says the 4th Amendment is alive and well, and it’s still possible to win 4th Amendment cases:
Your real concern is that all other things being equal, police are going to be believed in court over citizens. Well, yea, and that’s always been true, and likely always will be. The advice to have your own camera rolling is well taken.
I think that is partly my concern. If I think about the issue a bit more, what I really think I have an issue with are the dogs. Don’t get me wrong, I have no issue with the use of dogs in police work, or even the use of dogs for their noses in police work. I do have an issue with dogs amounting to probable cause for a search. Let me explain.
It is conceivable that sometime soon, technology will allow us to replace the dog’s nose. In this instance, police will be able to circle your vehicle with a device that takes in air samples, and looks for signatures of contraband. The interesting thing about this technology is, I think it actually would enhance civil liberties. I can’t cross examine a dog to find out what was going through its mind when it “alerted.” I can demand the logs from the device, demand to see its service records, and examine the science behind its function.
Even if it ends up a matter of judicial notice that the devices are reliable, and a reading can amount to probable cause, the officer at least would have to induce a reading somehow if he wanted to act merely on his suspicion, rather than just read the tea leaves of a dog’s behavior.
What’s interesting about such a sniffing device is how it would be affected under Kyllo v. United States. Unless such a device was generally available, it’s hard for me to see how it would be distinguished from the Kyllo case, except that involved a residence, and this would only presumably involve a vehicle or personal effects such as luggage. Perhaps the court would rule you have a lesser expectation of privacy. But as it is, a dog sniff doesn’t even constitute a search for 4th Amendment purposes, but if I were to use a device the mimics a dog’s nose, it presumably would. This goes to show the court’s logic in this matter is not entirely consistent.
Kriss Vector SDP Review
Over at Shooting Illustrated, Caleb gives the civilianized Kriss Vector pistol a review. I was going to point out the Kriss review I did after the Lucky Gunner shoot, but it turns out it only ever existed in my head. Guess I need to remember to write the down. The Kriss SMG is also quite a lot of fun, and the recoil reduction of the system does work as advertised. It has more kick than I expected, but for as high as the cyclic rate is, it’s quite controllable. I think they have an interesting system, but with tactical teams moving toward rifle-caliber carbines and PDWs, I’m not sure how much luck they’ll have selling a pistol caliber SMG.
But if you have the cash to pony up, it is a lot of fun. Obviously the Kriss SMG is not available to civilians, but the carbine version is the same system in semi-auto. If I were going to pony up the money for one, I’d go for the extra $200 for the tax stamp to get the short barreled version. As a shooter, I’ve never been too enthusiastic about semi-auto versions of submachine guns, and I don’t own any, but if I were going to spend the money on one, I’d get a Kriss.
The Geriatric Militia Conspiracy
The media is going to have a field day with this, if only because it’ll be useful for drawing attention away from Fast and Furious and discrediting one of its sources. The Affidavit submitted for the search warrant can be found here. Their geriatric plot seemed to revolve mostly around the use of ricin, claymore mines, and silenced weapons. Our group of grandpas here seems to want to use shaped charges too, because presumably they’ve read about it somewhere, though perhaps they can’t quite remember much about it. The affidavit outlines a story of hilarious incompetence, which made it very easy for the FBI to build a case against them. Just from the affidavit, it already looks like a pretty solid case.
On May 24, 2011, THOMAS and CHS1 drove to Atlanta in THOMAS’s 2006 Red GMC Canyon Pickup Truck, license plate Georgia BMB 0821. CHS1 consensually recorded the trip. THOMAS and CHS1 planned and conducted surveillance on the ATF (2600 Century Parkway, Atlanta, Georgia 30345) and the IRS (401 West Peachtree Street NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30308) buildings to plan and assess for possible attacks.
There’s an awful lot of consensual recording going on here. But I guess you have to have something to share with the grandkids at Christmas. Or perhaps at their age, it helps to remember what the conspiracy was about, and who it was against. Either way, this is generally enough to nail someone on conspiracy. You can actually sit around and talk about the geriatric rebellion all you want, but as soon as you take some action to further your conspiracy, you’re committing a crime. If you have two confidential informants following you around with recording equipment, it’s typically not going to be hard to gather enough evidence to send you to prison for the rest of your short lives. What’s surprising is how much of their action reads not like the action of grown men, who should at their age have some aged wisdom, but rather reads like 13 year old Quasimodos plotting to attack their local Jr. High to get back at the cool kids. I will share with you some of this quite humorous, though demented and incompetent, plot:
“We’d have to blow the whole building like Timothy McVeigh. If we we’re gonna blow the buildings I would be smart to hit ’em both at the same time. Plant the explosive right up against the wall, a shaped charge. We can do it. Okay let’s do it then. We can so do our own homework on making from scratch mortars what the hell’s that, claymores and grenades. We’ve gotta have a lot of explosives.”
Pretty sure McVeigh just used truck filled with a few barrels of diesel fuel and fertilizer, along with some blasting agents. I guess they didn’t do their homework. Either way, grandpa’s walker could probably be converted into a wicked fragmentation grenade.
“Yea, uh, claymore mines, we can make these things, but I’d rather have store bought, a real one.”
Yeah… the mines Home Depot sells are a hell of a lot more reliable than the grow-it-yourself types. You could always pick one up at Lowes, which is better laid out, and keeps the anti-personnel weapons in a more logical aisle, but Home Depot has a better selection.
“We need to place within an ATF or DEA big black van. When they fill up their people, we’re gonna take ’em all out at once.”
If they get into a white van, the plan is off!
THOMAS expressed interest in obtaining weapons and equipment for the “covert group” from the UCE. THOMAS stated that he and the other members of the group have begun physical training and fitness to prepare for the physical demands that their plans may require.
My recommendation is this, for physical training.
“Helluva’n effect for so small a package! Interested? You bet!!! Show this to Cobra (ROBERTS) and then we’ll work out what we might be able to swap for some. Thanks!”
It’s not a conspiracy if you all don’t have cool code names. For the record, he’s talking about explosive packages here, though possibly he’s heard that line from his wife before.
On August 1, 2011, CHS1 consensually recorded a meeting with THOMAS, ROBERTS and another individual in northeast Georgia. They talked about acquiring TNT and building their own explosive devices. They discussed various types of detonators, but seemed to focus primarily on using pre-paid cell phones
The pre-paid models are the only ones that come with the detonators built in.
The affidavit notes some problems with the informants (one is under indictment), but given they have audio recordings, it looks like a pretty open and shut case of probable cause to get a valid warrant. No matter how ridiculous these guys might be, if you make a list of federal sonsabitches you want to take out, and then take action to further your plot, even if the FBI is there every step of the way providing you with everything you need to incriminate yourselves, you’re going to end up in prison. After reading the affidavit, I have no problem with what the FBI did here, and I’m going to guess after execution of the warrant, they are looking at a pretty solid case. We should probably be thankful these guys were laughably incompetent.