Category Archives: Government

Will Someone Please Reign This Agency In

May 28, 2010

The BATFEces is at it again. They have changed a 40 year old interpretation of a law.

Reversing an interpretation of the Gun Control Act that has been on the books for more than four decades, ATF today posted a ruling declaring any shipment of a firearm by a manufacturer (FFL) to any agent or business (e.g., an engineering-design firm, patent lawyer, testing lab, gun writer, etc.) for a bona fide business purpose to be a “transfer” under the Gun Control Act of 1968.  As a consequence, legitimate business-related shipments will now require the recipient to complete a Form 4473 and undergo a Brady criminal background check.  In many instances, these requirements will force shipments to a third party, thereby lengthening the process and the time that the firearm is in transit.

What do I find troubling about this? It is not that this ruling will affect a large number of people. It is the arbitrariness (Is that a word? If not, it should be.) of it. There is no reason to have made this change. Not one firearm transferred under these conditions has been used in a crime. Yet, they feel the need to suddenly change the interpretation.

Also posted in 2nd Amendment, BATFE, Tyrrany, weapons – Comments Off

Say Hello to Soaring Prices

April 8, 2010

Paul Volcker (White House economic adviser) has started making noises about imposing a Value-Added Tax.  In simple terms, this means that a sales/VAT tax will have to be paid on everything at every step of the production process. The farmer buys the seeds, he’ll pay VAT tax on it. The farmer sells the food to the distributor, there will be a VAT tax. The distributor sells to a restaurant or grocery store, there will be a VAT tax added. You buy from the grocery store, you might pay a VAT tax.  To disguise the taxes you will be paying on food, they might not have VAT taxes when you buy at the grocery store.

If VAT is passed, I will be turning my entire backyard into a farm to produce food for my family. Of course, I might just do that anyways. More people will be either reducing spending or doing things themselves. Talk about a way to slow down the economy.

Also posted in economics, food, gardening, taxes – Comments Off

Ever Wonder If Obama (and other Dems) Want to Tell People In His Administration “Shut Up!”

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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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, Heller, Obama, President, Supreme Court, Tyrrany, civil rights, discrimination, firearms, politics, weapons – Comments Off

8 Year Old Cub Scout On Terrorist Watch List

January 14, 2010

The TSA says there are no children on the the ‘no-fly’ and ‘selectee’ lists. Yet, little Mikey Hicks (a frequent flyer), has been getting patted and searched since he was 2. Is it any wonder that I find these lists and their proposed expanded usage troublesome.

Also posted in Fascism in America, TSA, Terrorism, Tyrrany, civil rights, constitution, cruelty, discrimination, freedom, society, stupidity – Comments Off

Interesting Opinion Piece from John Mackey

August 15, 2009

John Mackey is the co-founder and CEO of ultra-liberal and progressive Whole Foods. He has written an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal that boils down to a very different version of healthcare reform than what is being pushed by the current administration. He states that rather than a new and hugely expensive entitlement program, we need to improve the private sector to make it more cost effective (both insurance and the actual medical care) and make it easier for people to donate money to help insure the uninsured. I love this quote from the article:

At Whole Foods we allow our team members to vote on what benefits they most want the company to fund. Our Canadian and British employees express their benefit preferences very clearly—they want supplemental health-care dollars that they can control and spend themselves without permission from their governments. Why would they want such additional health-care benefit dollars if they already have an “intrinsic right to health care”? The answer is clear—no such right truly exists in either Canada or the U.K.—or in any other country.

I also find it interesting that some liberals are boycotting Whole Foods because of this. I think I will have to shop there more often. Considering the low quality of produce at my local Kroger stores lately, this will not be a great hardship.

Also posted in healthcare, hippies, politics – Comments Off

This is why I had reservations about these laws

June 30, 2009

They now want to take away more of the rights of those on the “terrorist watch list.” (CNN)

When people on the government’s terrorist watch list have tried to buy guns or explosives in recent years, the government has let them the vast majority of the time.

That’s the finding of a new report by the Government Accountability Office, sent to lawmakers last month and released publicly Monday.

—————————————————————————————————–

The GAO provided the report in response to a request from Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-New Jersey. The GAO said Lautenberg had requested an update to a 2005 report.

In a statement Monday, Lautenberg said, “this new report is proof positive that known and suspected terrorists are exploiting a major loophole in our law, threatening our families and our communities. This ‘terror gap’ has been open too long, and our national security demands that we shut it down.”

The statement said Lautenberg is introducing legislation that would give the U.S. attorney general “authority to stop the sale of guns or explosives to terrorists.”

There is a huge problem with this, nobody on the terrorist watch list has been found guilty of anything. At one time, Senator Edward Kennedy was on the list. The list just has names. And, if your name is similar to someone’s name on the list, you are hit with the same restrictions (this has happened to two-year-old). If we allow the government to arbitrarily restrict this Constitutionally protected right, what is to stop them from restricting others? What is to prevent them from putting all of the current (or future) administrations’ opponents, on this list? What will prevent them from adding you, your friends, and/or your family to this list? This very list is the problem. Unless it is modified such that being put on the list is the result of a court action, where the accused is allowed to defend him/herself, the terrorist watch list needs to go away.

Also posted in 2nd Amendment, America, Fascism in America, First Amendment, TSA, Terrorism, Tyrrany, civil rights, constitution, discrimination, free speech, freedom – Comments Off

A few things to report on today

April 22, 2009
  1. Report: Illegal Immigrants Face Abuse In the South
    I have news for these people, it’s not just the South. It is all across the country. It is the reason I believe we need to go after the employers of illegal immigrants, and set up a good guest worker program. This would practically eliminate the the problems these people face.
  2. The Obama administration is considering prosecution of former Bush administration officials for giving legal advice on torture. This is a very bad thing. It sets up the scenario of the party in power being afraid to relinquish it when they are voted out of office. Part of what has made the government of the USA stable is the fact that government officials do not face imprisonment or death with a change in power. By going after these officials, they will be adding destabilizing factors to future changes of power. I will admit that the Republicans started this by going after Clinton for what was, in wider and long term view, a trivial matter. But, it doesn’t make doing this right.
  3. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has incorporated the Second Amendment.
    This is a good thing. It means that they have ruled that the Second Amendment applies to the federal, state, and local levels of government. Now, we need to get it to the Supreme Court so it will apply nationwide.
Also posted in 2nd Amendment, Blogging, Obama, discrimination, immigration, politics – Comments Off

They Just Don’t Get It

April 9, 2009

Apparently, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was on Good Morning America (I can not find a direct link to the transcript, this is the video) saying that they needed to get a compromise on a new assault weapons ban that includes registration and prohibit the transportation of weapons across state lines. First of all, those who believe in the Second Amendment as an individual right compromised from 1934 to 1994. We are sick of compromising. Here is a novel approach. How about going after those who intentionally break the law and punish them to the fullest extent of the law.

As to registration, why? Registration will not solve or prevent any crimes. Will the money from firearms registration be used to pay for free public ranges the way the money from vehicle registration does? The only reason I can see to register firearms is to take them away at a later date. If they want compromise, are they willing to accept the registration of printers, printing presses, and other means of using your First Amendment rights?

Also, why do they want to ban the interstate transportation of firearms? Are firearms that are legally transported across state lines that big of a problem?

Also posted in 2nd Amendment, Fascism in America, Tyrrany, civil rights, discrimination, freedom, registration, stupidity, weapons – Comments Off

Another Person Railroaded by the BATFE

April 7, 2009

Gun Shop Owner Serving 27 Years for an Arson Who Most likely Did Not Commit

Curtis Severns, the former owner of a firearms store in Plano, Tx., has been accused and convicted of arson by BATFE investigators. This is despite the facts that he did not have a motive and leading national arson experts say that the fire was caused by a frayed electrical cord. This man is another victim in the BATFE’s war against firearms dealers and owners.

Also posted in BATFE – Comments Off

Only 17.63% of Firearms in Mexican Crimes Traced to USA

April 2, 2009

Only 17.63% of Firearms in Mexican Crimes Traced to USA

Boobs and Pistols

Boobs and Pistols

I know many of my readers don’t trust Fox news. So, I have pulled the relevant quotes from the article:

What’s true, an ATF spokeswoman told FOXNews.com, in a clarification of the statistic used by her own agency’s assistant director, “is that over 90 percent of the traced firearms originate from the U.S.”

“Not every weapon seized in Mexico has a serial number on it that would make it traceable, and the U.S. effort to trace weapons really only extends to weapons that have been in the U.S. market,” Matt Allen, special agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), told FOX News.

In 2007-2008, according to ATF Special Agent William Newell, Mexico submitted 11,000 guns to the ATF for tracing. Close to 6,000 were successfully traced — and of those, 90 percent — 5,114 to be exact, according to testimony in Congress by William Hoover — were found to have come from the U.S.

But in those same two years, according to the Mexican government, 29,000 guns were recovered at crime scenes.

Now, let’s do the math. 5114 (the number of firearms traced to the USA)/ 29000 (the number of firearms “recovered”) X 100 (to give us a percentage) = 17.63%

The 17.63% number traced to the USA is a far cry from the 90% number given by several different sources. And, the question is, of that 18% (I’m being generous and rounding up), how many are actually obtained through legal purchases? I doubt the number (or percentage) is high. The simple fact is, why would the Mexican drug cartels spend over $600 for a semi-automatic clone of an AK47, when they can get a fully automatic AK47 from Central America for less?

I do not know why some politicians and reporters want to make it seem like we are the source of the weapons in Mexico, but I have my theories. What we need to do is let our elected representatives know that the numbers some people are giving are false. Let the media outlets know that we know that these numbers are false. The worst thing that could happen is legislative and law enforcement actions be taken based on these lies.

Also posted in 2nd Amendment, BATFE, Mexico, freedom, media, weapons – Comments Off
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