February 28, 2010
Attorney General Eric Holder states that the administration will seek a permanent “assault weapons” ban and other gon control measures.
The Obama administration will seek to reinstate the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004 during the Bush administration, Attorney General Eric Holder said today.
“As President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons,” Holder told reporters.
I will pick apart some of the things that he is attributed as saying in the article:
- The AR15 is now one of the most common rifles in the USA. Part of the Heller decision was that firearms in common use can not be banned. Thus, this would fail the test. The same can probably said for other firearms they seek to ban.
- The infamous “cop killer” bullets – This usually refers to ammunition designed to pierce body armor, which is already illegal to sale to civilians. The only other thing I can think they are referring to is rifle ammunition. Except for SWAT teams, police officers generally don’t wear body armor that can stop rifle ammunition. The reason is simple, it is extremely unlikely that a street cop will face rifle fire. The only other round I can think they would be wanting to ban is 5.7x28mm round. This round is often called a “cop killer” round because it was originally offered in an armor piercing configuration. Before the law changed, they stopped selling the armor piercing version of the round.
- The gun smuggling to Mexico – This has repeatedly been proven to be a red herring. The vast majority of weapons in the drug cartels’ hands are stolen from the Mexican military (these were sold to them legally and with US government support). So, of course they show up as coming from the USA. Their is weapon smuggling. But, it is not the major source of cartel weaponry.
- The “gun show loophole” – There is no loophole for gunshows. This is the right of every day citizens to transfer property between each other without government interference. These transactions are still illegal if the seller knows, or even has reason to suspect, that the buyer can not legally possess the weapon. Any firearms dealer at a gunshow has to still perform background checks on any buyers. Just because they are not in their normal storefront location does not change the law.
- Right now many Second Amendment rights supporters are willing to give Democrats the benefit of the doubt right now. If the administration and/or party leadership manages to strongarm the Democrats in congress into passing this legislation. The next elections will make the Republican take over of Congress in 1994 look mild by comparison. Most likely, unless the Republicans completely screw up their choice for President, the next Presidential election would also go to them. The fact is, the majority of people in this country do now see gun control measures as being useless and strongly object to them. The Democrats who have been elected to Congress recently have largely been put there with understanding that they will not pass gun control. If it passes, it might destro the Democratic party for a long time.
A not inconsequential side note. The companies that produce the assault weapons (and all of the side gear), employ a good number of Americans in well paying jobs. In the current economy, passing a new AWB will hurt the economy.
Also posted in 2nd Amendment, AR15, America, BATFE, Fascism in America, Government, Heller, President, Supreme Court, Tyrrany, civil rights, discrimination, firearms, politics, weapons –
August 31, 2009
FEMA’s new administrator has a message for Americans: get in touch with your survival instinct.
Craig Fugate is the new director of FEMA. Unlike past directors, he actually has a strong background in emergency management and preparedness. He started his career as a volunteer firfighter in Florida and has worked his way up. He has spent the last 20 years in emergency management in Florida.
“We need to change behavior in this country,” he told about 400 emergency-management instructors at a conference in June, lambasting the “government-centric” approach to disasters. He learned a perverse lesson in Florida: the more the federal government does in routine emergencies, the greater the odds of catastrophic failure in a big disaster. “It’s like a Chinese finger trap,” he told me last spring, as a hailstorm fittingly raged outside his office. If the feds do more, the public, along with state and local officials, do less. They come to expect ice and water in 24 hours and full reimbursement for sodden carpets. But as part of a federal system, FEMA is designed to defer to state and local officials. If another Katrina hits, and the locals are overwhelmed, a full-strength federal response will inevitably take time. People who need help the most—the elderly, the disabled, and the poor—may not get it fast enough.
When the head of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, was looking for someone to fill the job, she was repeatedly pointed to Mr. Fugate. From reading the article, I can’t help but feel that he is the right man for the job.
Edit: I’ve added a link to Mr. Fugate’s personal website. I think it is well worth reading.
April 25, 2009
As a people who regularly read my posts know, I don’t care for Obama. However, I find this video offensive. So you don’t drive up its viewing count, I will describe it. It is a video done to “Dirty Deeds Done With Sheep.” It has imagery portraying Obama having sex with sheep (along with other slurs). Just as I objected to such portrayals of George Bush, I object to the same thing being done to Obama. The reason is simple. He is the President of the United States of America. I do not respect the man. I DO respect the office. That being said, I also defend their right to make this kind of portrayal for the simple reason that it is political speech. As political speech, it is protected by the United States Constitution. I just wish the creator had the intelligence to give his message without resorting to such crude imagery.
April 19, 2009
1. They have decided to boycott the U.N. conference on racism. They have a very good reason to do so. The majority of countries involved in the conference think it is perfectly fine to offend Christians and Jews., but Muslims must be protected. Either all religious views must be protected, or none can be protected.
2. The recent report from the DHS isn’t as bad as pundits make it out to be. It basically says that due to various factors, extremist groups are going to have an easier time recruiting. One of the key factors is the fear that the current administration will try to greatly restrict legal firearms related activity (sales and/or ownership). The key question is, will the administration take the proper lesson and actions based on the report. The proper action is to stop pushing for gun control.
Now, I still think that the current administration is making Carter look overly competent. (To be honest, it seems to combine the worst of the Carter and Clinton administrations.) But, they still have time to change their course and not harm this country.
April 8, 2009
Pirates have seized a cargo ship with 20 US citizens
NAIROBI, Kenya – Somali pirates on Wednesday hijacked a U.S.-flagged cargo ship with 20 American crew members onboard, according to the shipping company.
The 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama was carrying emergency relief to Mombasa, Kenya, at the time it was hijacked, said Peter Beck-Bang, spokesman for the Copenhagen-based container shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk.
This is a perfect opportunity for the Obama administration to turn the military loose. Personally, I believe that any pirates that they do capture need to be tried and hung from the yardarm.
EDIT: Apparently the crew took back the ship and captured one of the pirates. Time to hang him from the yardarm.
March 13, 2009
Obama administration considering charging veteran’s private insurance for service related injuries
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Veterans groups are warning President Barack Obama against going ahead with a possible administration move to charge veterans’ private health care for service-related injuries.
This is a violation of the trust and obligation the US government has towards its veterans. These veterans experienced physical and/or mental damage in the course of serving their country. This is the same as an employer charging an ex-employee’s private insurance for the continuing care they need. Doing this will not only raise the premiums of veterans, it will also make it harder for veterans to get health insurance or the care they need (since some health insurance plans will not cover pre-existing health problems).
February 25, 2009
Here is an article that has done some fact checking on President Obama’s speech last night. Now, before anyone jumps on my case, I know he is not the first (nor will he be the last) liar in public office. I just get tired of people treating what he says as revealed truth.
OBAMA: “We have launched a housing plan that will help responsible families facing the threat of foreclosure lower their monthly payments and refinance their mortgages. It’s a plan that won’t help speculators or that neighbor down the street who bought a house he could never hope to afford, but it will help millions of Americans who are struggling with declining home values.”
THE FACTS: If the administration has come up with a way to ensure money only goes to those who got in honest trouble, it hasn’t said so.
Defending the program Tuesday at a Senate hearing, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said it’s important to save those who made bad calls, for the greater good. He likened it to calling the fire department to put out a blaze caused by someone smoking in bed.
OBAMA: “We have known for decades that our survival depends on finding new sources of energy. Yet we import more oil today than ever before.”
THE FACTS: Oil imports peaked in 2005 at just over 5 billion barrels, and have been declining slightly since. The figure in 2007 was 4.9 billion barrels, or about 58 percent of total consumption. The nation is on pace this year to import 4.7 billion barrels, and government projections are for imports to hold steady or decrease a bit over the next two decades.
OBAMA: “Regulations were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market. People bought homes they knew they couldn’t afford from banks and lenders who pushed those bad loans anyway. And all the while, critical debates and difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day.”
THE FACTS: This may be so, but it isn’t only Republicans who pushed for deregulation of the financial industries. The Clinton administration championed an easing of banking regulations, including legislation that ended the barrier between regular banks and Wall Street banks. That led to a deregulation that kept regular banks under tight federal regulation but extended lax regulation of Wall Street banks. Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, later an economic adviser to candidate Obama, was in the forefront in pushing for this deregulation.
Go read the article.
February 18, 2009
“As the president stated during the campaign, he does not believe the Fairness Doctrine should be reinstated,” White House spokesman Ben LaBolt told FOXNews.com.
As most people know, I did not vote for President Obama and disagree with him on many issues. On this, we agree. The Fairness Doctrine is censorship, plain and simple. Some people on the left are upset that they have a hard time hearing their views on the radio. This is due to a simple fact. The majority of people on the left don’t listen to talk radio. If they listen to the radio, they listen to either a music station or NPR. It is very hard to sell advertisement time when you have a very tiny listener base. The radio stations that play conservative talk shows don’t really do it for the politics, they do it for the money.
Fueling discussion, a report in the American Spectator this week said aides to Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman, Calif., met last week with staff for the Federal Communications Commission to discuss ways to enact Fairness Doctrine policies. The report said Waxman was also interested in applying those standards to the Internet, which drew ridicule from supporters and opponents of the doctrine.
This is even worse. Part of the argument for the Fairness Doctrine is that the airwaves are publicly owned and rented by the stations. Internet access and (more importantly) web space is paid for with private money. It is incredibly easy to set up a sight and post opposing view points in the internet. This is a blatant attempt at censoring opposing viewpoints and co-opting private held means of expression.
