Guns – Page 1138 – Shall Not Be Questioned

McCarthy’s Shopping List

Kim asks “So, children, your task for today is to study the list of semi-auto rifles on the list contained in the latest version of the Assault Weapons Ban, and see how many of them you own”:

`(i) AK, AKM, AKS, AK-47, AK-74, ARM, MAK90, Misr, NHM 90, NHM 91, SA 85, SA 93, VEPR;
`(ii) AR-10;
`(iii) AR-15, Bushmaster XM15, Armalite M15, or Olympic Arms PCR;
`(iv) AR70;
`(v) Calico Liberty;
`(vi) Dragunov SVD Sniper Rifle or Dragunov SVU;
`(vii) Fabrique National FN/FAL, FN/LAR, or FNC;
`(viii) Hi-Point Carbine;
`(ix) HK-91, HK-93, HK-94, or HK-PSG-1;
`(x) Kel-Tec Sub Rifle;
`(xi) M1 Carbine;
`(xii) Saiga;
`(xiii) SAR-8, SAR-4800;
`(xiv) SKS with detachable magazine;
`(xv) SLG 95;
`(xvi) SLR 95 or 96;
`(xvii) Steyr AUG;
`(xviii) Sturm, Ruger Mini-14;
`(xix) Tavor;
`(xx) Thompson 1927, Thompson M1, or Thompson 1927 Commando; or
`(xxi) Uzi, Galil and Uzi Sporter, Galil Sporter, or Galil Sniper Rifle (Galatz).

That’s 5 by name, but if Carolyn McCarthy wants gets her bill, she’ll ban nearly everything in my safe, because of this:

`(L) A semiautomatic rifle or shotgun originally designed for military or law enforcement use, or a firearm based on the design of such a firearm, that is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, as determined by the Attorney General. In making the determination, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that a firearm procured for use by the United States military or any Federal law enforcement agency is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, and a firearm shall not be determined to be particularly suitable for sporting purposes solely because the firearm is suitable for use in a sporting event.â€™.

I collect and shoot military and military patterned firearms.Â That’s what I do.Â If McCarthy gets her way, my days of collecting are going to be very numbered.

So, Congressworm McCarthy, care to explain to me how taking away guns from people like me would have saved your husband?

A Very Brady Reply: MySpace Blog Bogus

From the comments:

I can confirm that these statements were made by an impostor. Iâ€™m a spokesman for the Brady Campaign, and I know that none of us were involved in those postings. Thatâ€™s not our statement, and itâ€™s not our position.

So it would appear whoever is hosting that MySpace Blog is not actually speaking for the Bradys in an official capacity. The IP he’s coming from does check out as being from the Brady Campaign, so this is for real.

The Not Quite Apology Interview

Smallest Minority has a long but also rather good post up with a transcript of part of Jim Zumbo’s interview with Tom Gresham.Â Â IÂ pretty much agree withÂ Kevin’s take on it.Â As I mentioned yesterday, Zumbo can still make it up to me, because I can forgive ignorance on the political aspect of this issue.Â But outright anti-gun sentiments I can’t abide by.Â Being a hunter doesn’t get you a free pass there.

History of Maryland Concealed Weapon Laws

Clayton Cramer has a good history of Maryland’s concealed carry history up on his site.Â As one might expect, the roots of this law, like most other southern states prohibitions against carrying weapons, were aimed squarely at blacks, and were rarely enforced against whites.

Thanks For the Heads Up

The Ten Ring points out what may turn out to be a bit of floor saving advise on the Walther P-38:

You could chamber a round and then flip the safety decocking the hammer. (Given the state of Germanyâ€™s wartime production, I recommend that you donâ€™t try this feature unless youâ€™re at a range with the muzzle pointing in a safe direction.)

I wasn’t aware the safeties on late war models were a problem, and I planned to pick up a P-38 on the C&R license at some point.Â I doubt I would have ever tried to use the de-cocker on a loaded pistol, since I’m interested in this pistol as a collector rather than carry piece.Â But it’s good to know not to ever try ahead of time.

We Still Need Hunters

Michael Bane asks where we go from here as the new masters of the shooting community. My answer is we need to reach out to the hunters, because, while we’re big enough to get the industry to pay attention to us, we still need hunters because of their numbers, the amount of money spent that crosses over to ours, and the generally positive image the public has of hunting.

The black rifle shooting community has made itself known as a force, and we should be happy about that, but it’s time to reach out to hunters and outdoor writers and make sure they understand how the makeup of the shooting sports is changing, and how that affects our respective issues.

Jim Zumbo grew up in a world where more people hunted, and the idea of someone coming after his deer rifle was absurd. That world is gone. One only has to look at what’s happened in states like New Jersey, Massachusetts and California to see that if you like things that go boom, whether you like shooting deer or paper with them, the anti-gun people are coming after you. That might seem far away in Wyoming, but look at this:

Caroline alleges that a gun ban in Washington D.C. has unarmed its law abiding citizens but allowed its criminal to remain armed. The result is a high rate of criminal activity in DC. The answer to that is that no ban will be effective unless it is national in scope and is diligently enforced.

And in virtually all of these hostile jurisdictions, they came after black rifles first, then went after other things. Oh sure, you might get to keep your deer rifle for a while, but they’ll keep making it harder, more burdensome, and more expensive, until most people give up the hobby, leaving us with so little political power, that it won’t be hard to convince legislators to come for that eventually too, or outlaw hunting. Don’t think we’re just paranoid extremists with delusional fantasies, and that it can’t happen, because it’s happened elsewhere.

So what do we do? This is where I’ll suggest some heresy; that we start with Jim Zumbo. He has tremendous reach within the hunting community, and if he can be brought back from the dark side, he could be really useful for outreach to hunters. So I’ll put a challenge out there to Jim: help us spread the message to hunters on the importance of working to preserve our second amendment rights, and I mean everyone’s, whether you shoot an AR-15 at paper or a Winchester at a deer, an AR-15 at varmint, or keep a Glock in the nightstand for self-defense; tell hunters of the importance of this struggle, because both our futures depend on helping each other out with our respective issues. We don’t have the numbers to stand alone. Do that, Jim, and I’ll happily forgive and forget, and I think a lot of other people will too.

Carolyn McCarthy Hates Due Process

H.R.1168:

To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to extend the firearm and ammunition prohibitions applicable to convicted felons to those convicted in a foreign court.

I’ve always said fighting these people is about a lot more than guns. Removing someone’s liberty based on the actions of a foreign court violates our right to due process. McCarthy is not just anti-gun, she apparently has no issues with suspending due process and subjugating our legal system to foreign powers. This one has 5 cosponsors who I wish you could see so I could tell you who else is violating their oath to uphold the constitution.

But if that’s not enough for you, there’s H.R.1167:

To increase public safety and reduce the threat to domestic security by including persons who may be prevented from boarding an aircraft in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and for other purposes.

On the no fly list? Lots of people are and we don’t know why or how to get off. Now you won’t have any second amendment rights either. Foreign citizens already can’t by a firearm legally; that’s reserved for citizens and permanent residents. So who is this meant to affect?

Carolyn McCarthy is violating her oath of office by crapping all over the constitution she promised to uphold. It’s time for the Congresswoman to revisit some wisdom from James Madison in Federalist 51:

If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.

Emphasis mine. Due Process is one of those obligations set on government to oblige it to control itself, and the second amendment is the last resort of auxiliary precautions. How can Carolyn McCarthy support these things and still claim to be serving our country and upholding her oath of office? I’d really like to know. I’m disappointed more of her constituents aren’t asking.

More on HR1022 – McCarthy AWB

Gun Law News has the dirt on HR1022.Â It looks like it’s more like California’s ban rather than a renewal of the federal ban.Â TheÂ bill still has no cosponsors, which is good news.Â Let’s keep an eye on it, and keep asking why the people of New York’s 4th Congressional District keep sending Carolyn McCarthy back to Congress despite her complete ineffectiveness as a legislator.

Glad Remington Doesn’t Act This Slowly

According to David Codrea, the FAA has retracted its collective rights statement.Â How long ago was it that we pointed this out?Â Â The sad part is, they probably acted with light speed in government terms.Â It’s good news though, because it means it was the FAA not being aware of the administration’s position, rather than the administration deliberately retreating from the earlier position.

My Letter to Remington

I’m a firm believer when a company goes to bat for you, it’s nice to say thank you.Â I sent this to Remington a few minutes ago:

Dear Remington,

I want to thank you for your support in the recent controversy over Jim Zumbo’s unfortunate comments that were derogatory the AR-15 shooting community.Â While I hope we can find some way to heal the wounds between our community and Mr. Zumbo, I was glad to see Remington so quickly distance itself from his statements.

I often buy Remington ammunition for my AR-15, and will be sure to continue doing so, and will encourage others to do so as well.

Thanks Again,

Sebastian

I think it’s especially important since so many of us jumped the gun and went after Remington over the whole Zumbo thing when they were merely mentioned incidentally.Â Sometime soon, I’m going to head up to Cabela’s and buy some Remington .223.Â Everyone else should be nice and pick up some too as a thank you to a company who’s willing to stand with us on taking the second amendment seriously.