Gun Laws and Gun Violence...what you think is probably wrong.

Freakanomics. A project of Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner manages to piss people off on both sides of the political aisle by virtue of their goring the sacred cows of each with simple but uncomfortable facts, logic and numbers. If you haven't read their book, you ought to. Caution, uncomfortable truths contained therein.

Recently, on their American Public Media broadcast they went after the issue of the efficacy of Gun Laws and the potential impact of more restrictive additional laws. The podcast is about 30min long and well worth the listen.

LEVITT: I would just say that anyone with any sense looks at the current political climate, thinks about the kinds of proposals that are being made and accepts the fact that none of these proposals are going to have any real impact at all.

Which begs the question....

What then, is the REAL purpose of increased restrictions on lawful gun ownership if there is no demonstrable decrease in crime and violence?

Joe Biden. Is he stupid or does he think you are?

No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn’t test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance greed and love of power. ~ PJ O’Rourke

VPOTUS Joe Biden and the guy responsible for Fast & Furious

As the gun control debate rages on, those who take the immoral stance of infringing the rights of the law abiding continue to reach for increasingly farcical analogies, specious and spurious arguments in favor of their indefensible position. To wit, Vice President Joe Biden who on Tuesday said the following:

…nobody needs an AR-15, especially women. If you want to protect yourself, get a double-barrel shotgun.

I said, Jill, if there’s ever a problem, just walk out on the balcony here…walk out and put that double-barrel shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house. …. You don’t need an AR-15 – it’s harder to aim, it’s harder to use, and in fact you don’t need 30 rounds to protect yourself. Buy a shotgun, buy a shotgun.

The mind fairly boggles at this. Biden is either one of the most colossally ignorant people in public office today (a pretty high bar) or this is an intentional effort to mislead people who he views as ignorant and stupid. Those really ARE the only options.

That question aside for now let’s look at the individual statements made here at face value:

Barrett Gambit Follow Up

Via Libertarian Conspirator blog:

Grassroots North Carolina has commenced an initiative to urge firearms manufacturers involved in the LE/MIL market to follow the lead of LaRue Tactical requesting that they not sell to State/Local entities that which cannot be sold to citizens in the same state. They've produced a sample letter format below and provided the email address for LE Sales Directors at the various manufacturers.

Dear Law Enforcement Sales Manager,

Recently New York rushed an ill-advised and unconstitutional law infringing on the rights of law-abiding gun owners. Other states are poised to write similar laws. I urge you to follow the lead of LaRue Tactical which has adopted this policy: If it can’t be sold to law-abiding citizens, it won’t be sold to state and local police agencies either.

There are 800,000 sworn police officers in the entire United States. The FBI reports a total of 2,495,440 NICS checks, and thus firearms sales, in January 2013 alone. Police sales are not your major business. It’s time for firearm manufacturers to send a clear message that you will not participate in the slow erosion of our Second Amendment rights.
(NICS numbers Source http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/nic...rly_totals.pdf)

Signed,

The email address' to send the letter to are shown below:
 publicsafetysales@sigsauer.com, dgrier@smith-wesson.com, LE.info@glock.us, mreissig@colt.com, sales@fnhusa.com, lawenforcement@ruger.com,

Stats Chat

I've posted a few of this guys video's in the past....the follow ups are too good not to share.



All of his video's are available here: AmidsTheNoise

Malicious Compliance & The Barrett Gambit

Malicious compliance: When an individual intentionally inflicts harm by strictly following the orders of leadership or following the absolute letter of the law, knowing that compliance will cause a loss of some form resulting in damage to the manager's business or reputation, or a loss to an employee or subordinate. In effect, it is a form of sabotage used to harm leadership or used by leadership to harm subordinates. In short, complying with the outward form of orders or rules, while either allowing the result to reveal the flaws in the rules, or exploiting the flaws to sabotage the situation. 

In 2004, California enacted the ".50 BMG Regulation Act" which went into effect 01 January, 2005. The act effectively banned, for civilian use, rifles chambered in the .50 BMG Caliber. This is an ultra-rare, ultra-expensive highly esoteric caliber to be sure and one that is really used by the most serious of competitive shooting sports enthusiasts and, by virtue of it's ballistics characteristics by Police & Military. The legislature banned the round, and rifles chambered for it ostensibly due to "terrorist threat" despite the fact that there has never been a .50 BMG used in a terrorist attack against the US, and exactly ZERO crimes have been committed in the US, let alone California using the .50 BMG.

In response to the ban, Barrett Rifles CEO, Ronnie Barrett announced that his company would no longer sell or service any Barrett rifle owned by a California State or Municipal Law Enforcement agency or by the CA National Guard. A decision of conscience that no doubt cost his company significant revenue and market share but one he stands by to this day.

Go Read This NOW!

I've written a fair bit regarding the current assault on the Second Amendment over the last few weeks and I will likely continue to do so as things develop. I think though that it's important to view any subject from multiple points of view. To that end I want to share a piece from another blogger that I stumbled on this morning.

The link below will lead you to a brilliant, if a bit long, piece on gun rights written from a decidedly left leaning individual. It is long, but stick with it. Totally worth your time.

The Rifle on the Wall: A Left Argument for Gun Rights

I have a few other pieces bookmarked that I'll link to below later tonight.

Grandma's Hands

In 1971 the legendary singer/songwriter Bill Withers released the song “Grandmas Hands”.

I was listening to the song over the weekend and a whole raft of memories of my Grandmother came rushing back. I wrote last year that I hadn’t yet figured out how to process her death and I still don’t think I have. But there have been small steps in that direction and they’ve come from a place I didn’t expect. Sports.

My Grandmother, Elanor Turretto, was an athlete as a young lady. She loved the game of tennis and played in High School and through her 20’s. I remember that she never missed watching Wimbledon, The US Open and thought the French Open was silly and that it was held in too high a regard given that the clay court was so different from the surface that players usually trained and played on.

She loved team sports too especially the 49ers and Giants.

I was in 1^st or 2^nd grade when I was surprised one morning at school by the appearance of my Grandmother at my classroom door. I don’t recall how she’d gotten them, probably from her boss at Tarlow’s Furriers in Santa Clara, but she had a pair of tickets for a “Businessman’s Special” at Candlestick. She was taking me to my first Baseball Game and it was to be a secret. It’s a secret we shared without anyone ever finding out until…well…now. So if either of my parents happen to read this, now you know.  

I remember every detail of the first game I ever listened to on the radio as chronicled ( HERE ) but I can't recall a single thing about this game. I have no idea who the opposing team was, who pitched or even if the Giants won. All I remember is how special it felt to be getting away with something by playing hookey with Grandma. I remember Grandma’s hands on the wheel of her 1968 Camaro (which I now own). I remember Grandma’s hands handing me my first ballpark hotdog. I remember Grandma’s hands zipping up my jacket against the chill at the park. I remember Grandmas’s hands holding mine as we dodged cars in the lot at Candlestick.

She was sitting in her wingback chair and I was sitting on the floor leaning against her knees in on a Sunday afternoon in 1982. With my entire family in the room, only she and I were paying attention to Vin Scully and Hank Stram calling a playoff game between the 49ers and Cowboys. Joe Montana rolled right, pump-faked and then slung the ball high and deep into the end zone and I remember, more than anything else the feeling of anticipation and anxiety being transmitted to me through Grandmas hands grasping my shoulders.

I was running off the field with the rest of the team after a game and I remember Grandma’s hands grabbing the sleeve of my jersey to congratulate me and the joy on her face when she’d watched me score my first touchdown in High School.

I remember Grandma’s hands touching mine as she told me how proud she was of me when I joined the Military.

I remember Grandma's hands touching my wife Kathy's the first time they met.

I remember Grandma’s hands in mine as she asked me to take care of Grandpa and did her best to comfort me just minutes before she passed away.