Shall Not Be Questioned – Page 1653 – The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …

Representative Paul Clymer – Gambling Nazi

State Representative Paul Clymer, who wants to be everyone’s mom and dad, whether you asked for it or not, seems to have other pet issues that involve treating responsible adults in our Commonwealth like well cared for children:

Although Governor Rendell has signed legislation legalizing 61,000 slot machines in Pennsylvania, Clymer continues to lead an anti-gambling coalition in the Commonwealth. Made up of legislators, church, community and pro-family groups, the coalition seeks to have some oversight on casino gambling and is also working to repeal the gambling bill.

This is from his very own web site. OK folks, pay attention, because this will be one of those rare moments when I have something nice to say about Governor Rendell: he was right to loosen restrictions on gambling in Pennsylvania, not because they will pay for all the programs he wanted, or because they’ll pay for property tax relief. It’s clear now he was full of crap on that count. No, Governor Rendell was right to loosen restrictions on gambling because there’s no good reason for adults to be told how they can and can’t spend their own money. If the state can tax it and regulate it, why the hell not? Any extra money flowing into the treasury is welcome, and if people have a good time doing it, it’s a win win situation.

Representative Clymer should spend less time fighting Ed Rendell about how grown adults choose to spend their money and spend more time fighting Ed Rendell on his rampant tax and spend policies, his support for gun control, and support for a massive health care overhaul that will be damaging to businesses in the Commonwealth.

Add State Representative Paul Clymer…

… to the list of Pennsylvania politicians who can go to hell. Why?

A bill introduced last week in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives would mandate that every car sold in the state be equipped with a breath testing device. State Representative Paul I. Clymer (R-Bucks County) insists that every motorist must prove that he is not drunk before starting a vehicle. Clymer’s proposal would require that, by 2009, all new cars sold in Pennsylvania have a device installed to estimate the amount of alcohol on the breath of a driver. If the machine believes the driver’s BAC is greater than .025 percent â€” significantly less than the legal limit of .08 percent â€” the car will not start.

So does that mean that Paul Clymer will give me a ride to work or pick me up on days when the interlock device decides to read a false positive, as they are prone to do sometimes? Paul Clymer obviously has no respect for the citizens of this Commonwealth, as he apparently believes we are all, even those of us who are responsible drinkers, or who don’t drink, such a risk to become drunk drivers that we have to be parented over by the state.

If Pennsylvania wants to retain educated young professionals, which everyone keeps saying we’re doing a sorry job of these days, then they need to make this bill die a very quick death, because it’s so bad, I’d likely leave the state over it, and go to a place like Arizona that treats people more like adults. If you live in Representative Clymer’s district, I urge you to vote against him in the next election, or if you’re a Republican, unseat him in the primaries. You deserve better representation than this.

Hat Tip: Nobody’s Business

Selling Deception (Again)

Clayton Cramer does an excellent job tearing apart Brady Campaign President Paul Helmke’s latest statements against state pushing parking lot carry at work. I know I’ve come out against this bill for other reasons, but the Brady Campaign are still completely full of crap:

“This is not about personal freedom – getting shot in the workplace by someone who has retrieved a gun from the parking lot is the opposite of freedom,” said Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign. “This is about preserving the ability of companies to make workplaces as safe as they can be, and free from gun violence.”

If I’m the kind of person who is going to go out to the car to get a gun to shoot someone, I’m not the kind of person who is going to give a crap about some HR policy. When are the Brady Campaign going to realize that rules and laws don’t stop these kinds of people? There is no policy that a company can make that will stop a employee who is intent on murder, save not hiring people with criminal histories in the first place.

While I don’t agree that employers should be forced to keep employees because they won’t respect the terms under which the employer agrees to continue their relationship, I absolutely agree that any HR department that thinks a no weapons policy does anything to stop workplace violence are as delusional as Paul Helmke.

Be sure to read Clayton’s entire post. It’s pretty good.

Windex Is Better

I’ve always heard for shooting corrosive ammo, the best thing to use for cleaning is soap and water. Straightarrow suggested ammonia solutions. Others have suggested Windex. After shooting the AK-74 in Texas, I tried Windex, and had no rust spots on the firearm. A few days ago I tried soapy water, and found the results to be less than pleasing, with rust splotches on the flash hider and in the gas tube. Windex would seem to win hands down.

But I doubt Windex is effective because of the ammonia. I think it has more to do with the fact that Windex has much more effective surfactants in it than plain soapy water. The ammonia is immaterial, other than its power as a detergent, which can be explained by the chemistry in the primers.

Corrosive primers contain mercury fulminate, which is strike sensitive, and an amalgam of potassium chlorate as an oxidizing agent, and rosin as a binding agent and fuel. The mercury fulminate gets the reaction going when the primer is struck by the firing pin, and gets hammered against the “anvil”. The potassium chlorate and rosin begin reacting violently to create a jet of hot, burning gas which then ignites the main powder charge. The problem with this reaction is that one of the byproducts is potassium chloride, which ends up on metal surfaces and attracts moisture, which quickly starts the corrosion process. The purpose of using warm water is to dissolve the potassium chloride, and wash it off of the gun. I suspect Windex works well because it has surfactants that will dig into the powder residue, get to the surfaces, and help wash away more of the potassium salt.

Another by product of of the primer reaction is elemental mercury, which can form amalgams with brass. If you ever wondered why the Soviets use steel cased ammo, this is one of the reasons. Over time, mercuric primers can leech enough mercury into the casing to weaken the brass, increasing the risk of rupture when it’s fires. Using steel casings minimizes this risk, even with very old ammunition.

Modern non-corrosive primers use lead syphnate, which doesn’t leave moisture attracting salts. The lead syphnate is bound up with ground glass as a frictionator, tetracene as a sensitizer, along with an oxidizing compound, typically barium nitrate, and a fuel source, such as antimony sulfide.

Non-corrosive primers are more prone to degradation than corrosive primers, in large part because tetracene makes the primer a lot more heat sensitive. There have been a lot of advancements in primer technology lately, particularly with non-toxic primers, and I won’t pretend to be an expert on this.

But I will say that Windex is definitely your friend if you shoot corrosive primed surplus ammunition out of your firearms. It seems to get the job done better than soapy water.

The Tangled Webb

The Jim Webb stuff is getting interesting just as I have to concentrate on stuff at work. Instapundit and SayUncle are on top of it. I agree that Webb should get on the repeal DC gun ban issue pronto. Some reciprocity would be nice too.

UPDATE: Should have been more clear.Â I don’t actually want Congress to derail Parker by repealing the ban either.Â I would like Senator Webb to acknowledge that the ban is an injustice to ordinary citizens and that he is against it, or something along those lines.

Ed Rendell at It Again

Ed Rendell is crapping all over Keystone State gun collectors again:

Speaking on a day when Philadelphia recorded its third gun killing in 24 hours, Rendell said that if lawmakers’ terms were limited, they might be less fearful of the gun lobby and more likely to support a long-stalled proposal to limit handgun purchases to one a month.

“That law should be passed,” Rendell said. “No one who is sane and rational would vote against one handgun a month.”

I guess I’m crazy them, because as a collector, this law will affect me. And I still ask “How is this going to help things?”. They’ve been completely unable to demonstrate that this kind of straw purchasing is a major source of crime guns. Straw purchasing is already illegal, and multiple gun sales are tracked by the ATF and County Sheriffs. If we’re not going after these types of gun traffickers now, how is adding an extra law going to help anything?

I should also point out that term limits will ensure that Ed Rendell does not serve a second term as Pennsylvania’s governor. I guess they are useful for something then.

h/t: Jeff Soyer

Not Sure Whether to Be Upset

I won’t really say anything more about the Webb incident, because now that the details are coming out, we’re missing a key bit of information to determine whether this is something I really should be upset about or not.Â Initial reports made it seem like Webb was bringing a gun into the Capitol, and mistakingly handed the bag with guns in it off to a staffer.Â This would upset me, because I don’t take kindly to politicians privileging themselves with activities they’d throw me in the slammer for.Â I can’t carry in DC without risking jail time, it should be the same for Senators.

If Webb was boarding a flight, he may not have been breaking any laws, as the airports are both in Virginia, except BWI, which is in Maryland.Â If he handed a bag off to the staffer without telling the staffer there was a gun in it, he was an idiot, but it’s not something I’m going to get too worked up over.Â It’s politicians holding themselves above the law that I get worked up over.

So I’ll reserve my indignation from the time being, and just leave it at this: I still won’t be impressed until I see Webb carrying a P90 under a trench coat.

More Info on Webb’s Weapon

It looks like Webb handed the bag off to his staffer because he was boarding a flight. The question of who is the idiot will therefore hinge on one piece of information: did the staffer knew there was a firearm and two extra loaded magazines in the bag? If so, the staffer is the idiot. If not, Jim Webb is the idiot.

There’s also the distinct possibility that both are idiots.

Not Quite As Susceptible

Somehow I think our particular branch of the blogosphere is probably less likely to encounter these types of problems than others.

Some Advice for Jim Webb

So it looks like the good Senator from Virginia had three loaded magazines worth of ammo snatched off his staffer. My main question for Senator Webb is: are you expecting that much trouble? If you are, them I might suggest you reconsider throwing a handgun in your bag, as we all know that handguns are really weapons of last resort.

For Senators who might be involved in a last ditch shootout with potential attackers, after the attackers have made their way through all the Capitol Police, I think we can all agree that this firearm is an excellent compromise between a pistol and a full sized rifle:

Of course, it’s a short barreled rifle, but you should have no problem with the NFA process as a Senator. (After all, it appears you have no problem getting around bans in federal buildings and in the District that apply to the rest of us peons.) It’s small, compact, and will even fit in a duffel bag, much like the one negligently handed off to your staffer.

I don’t want to discourage you from your gun nuttery, Senator, but if you’re figuring on two extra magazine’s worth of trouble, why not really be prepared? Besides, I’d be a lot more impressed if your staffer got caught with a P90 in you duffel bag going through the x-ray machine. We gun nuts are watching, Senator, and we don’t want you to let us down. If you’re going to get your staffers in trouble with the law by being careless about where you put your guns, at least make sure the gun is worth it!