Concealed Carry Badges

Back in the 1990's, I used to see these things at gun shows from time to time, but I didn't think anyone actually bought them. I certainly don't expect to see anyone with a lick of common sense wearing one.  Yet, I saw three of these things this weekend.

I can't emphasize enough what a bad idea they are.

Facing Lead

Her name is Barbara, but her friends call her Barbie.  I am not kidding; she told me this herself.  She's in her mid-40's, fake blonde and not very bright.  At some point, someone did Barbie the disservice of telling her she could cruise through life on her looks alone.

Under some circumstances, I could almost pity her.

That is, unless she's waving a loaded .357 Magnum in my face.

The Ruger LCR

Well, it can shoot; I'll give it that.

Now for my complaints:

• the front sight is hard to keep in focus,


• I can't get all my fingers on the grip, and


• it's a bit snappy on recoil.

Yeah, I'm being smarmy.  These things are par for the course with any snubnose revolver.

Thune Amendment: 2 Votes Shy

It's amazing how quickly this came to a head.  I'd just heard about it a few days ago, and as of yesterday, the Brady Campaign and their ilk were in full panic mode over it with the media.  Last night, Fox News was running a constant ticker about it over their program.

Then came the vote today. 

We lost by two votes.

Two.

In a Democrat-controlled Senate.

We may have lost this one, but look at the circumstances.  This never would have been imaginable ten years ago.  Heck, it never would have seemed feasible at any point in modern times.

The winds are changing.  Harry Reid voted for it.  So did Russ Feingold, as well as Democratic Senators from Alaska, Montana, Arkansas, Colorado, Virginia (both Senators), and Arizona.

SA 1618: The Thune Amendment

SA 1618 is an amendment to S. 1390, a bill authorizing appropriations for the Department of Defense for the 2010 fiscal year.  The amendment seeks,

[t]o amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to allow citizens who have concealed carry permits from the State in which they reside to carry concealed firearms in another State that grants concealed carry permits, if the individual complies with the laws of the State.

There are 21 cosponsors including Johnny Isakson of Georgia and Orrin Hatch of Utah.

Naturally, the Left is pissed, which means it stands a chance.

ATF v. the 10th Amendment

The ATF has fired its first shot across the bow (pdf) regarding the Firearms Freedom Act that passed last month in Tennessee.  In a letter recently sent to Tennessee Federal Firearms License (FFL) holders, they stated:

The passage of the Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act (...) has generated questions from industry members as to how this State law may affect them while engaged in a firearms business activity. (...) However, because the Act conflicts with Federal firearms laws and regulations, Federal law supersedes the Act, and all provisions of the Gun Control and the National Firearms Act, and their corresponding regulations, continue to apply.

The remainder of the brief memorandum simply reiterates the basic responsibilities of FFL's.

So far, it's just a "friendly" reminder. What happens this winter, when the Act takes place in several states, remains to be seen.

Sotomayor and the Pitfalls of Precedent

Senator Leahy put Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on the spot today, and her answers don't surprise me in the least.  She paid the expected lip-service to the Heller decision:

Like you, I understand that how important the right to bear arms is to many, many Americans. In fact, one of my godchildren is a member of the NRA. And I have friends who hunt. I understand the individual right fully that the Supreme Court recognized in Heller.

All well and good, but her answers regarding her decision in Maloney v. Cuomo are a bit questionable.  As with Ricci v. DeStefano, she chose to defer rather blindly to precedent rather than risk making waves:

In Supreme Court province, the right is not fundamental. It's a legal term. It's not talking about the importance of the right in a legal term. It's talking about is that right incorporated against the states. (...) My decision in Maloney and on any case of this type would be to follow the precedent of the Supreme Court when it speaks directly on an issue.

This is where it gets a bit slippery.  There are some precedents that are so disastrous, so detrimental to liberty, that they must be defied, even before they are overturned.  Two of those--the Slaughterhouse Cases and United States v. Cruikshank--will be tested before the Court next term.

USC § 922(b)(1)

I got several questions about this today, and I thought I'd clarify.  As of November, you must be 21 years old to receive a frame or receiver for a firearm.  It doesn't matter if it's to be used to make a rifle or a handgun; it's now treated in a similar manner as a handgun.

Congress didn't pass a law while we weren't looking, nor did the ATF sneak a regulation in under the radar.  This is simply a clarification and enforcement of a clause buried in Code section 922, which states:

[It shall be unlawful for any licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector to sell or deliver] any firearm or ammunition to any individual who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is less than eighteen years of age, and, if the firearm, or ammunition is other than a shotgun or rifle, or ammunition for a shotgun or rifle, to any individual who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is less than twenty-one years of age

Receivers were never explicitly targeted previously, but as per a letter sent out last week (pdf):

A frame of receiver is a type of firearm "other than a shotgun or a rifle" and the transfer by the dealer to an individual under 21 years of age would be prohibited by Title 18, U.S.C., section 922(b)(1).

The letter also states that an FFL may not sell a frame to anyone under 21, nor to unlicensed individuals from other states.  Essentially, if it's not a shotgun or rifle, they're treating it like a handgun.

All of which scotches the idea of anyone under 21 building their own rifles.

The worst part is that there's no real way around this.  The ATF has chosen an unjustly strict reading of the code, but it's all there.  § 922 is pretty much the omnibus of modern gun regulation, and challenging it would require a massive effort.

This could be a shot over the bow in reaction to the Firearms Freedom Acts passing in several states, but if so, it simply proves the need for such acts in the first place.

Sunday Handloads

158gr lead wadcutters over 7.5gr of Hodgdon HS-6.  These are an outgrowth of a self-defense load developed by a friend, which consisted of a 125gr XTP bullet over 8gr of the same powder.

Clark: Totems Flare Review

I was absolutely smitten with Chris Clark's 2006 album, Body Riddle.  It didn't grab me immediately, but with time, it grew to be one of my favorite records released that year.

Last year's Turning Dragon left me a bit cold.  The reclusive genius of previous records had become quite the extrovert for a change.  Much of the abstraction and complexity of his previous worked had been toned down in favor of more danceable, and dare I say, sunny material.

So, with Totems Flare, I had no clue which way he'd go.  Turns out he went both ways at once, and with striking results.

First Briefs for NRA/SAF v. Chicago

California Attorney General and former Presidential Candidate Edmund "Jerry" Brown has submitted an Amicus Curiae brief (pdf), asking the Supreme Court to hear the joint NRA and SAF suits against Chicago.  At first, it seems surprising and perhaps a bit heartening, but don't worry, Brown's got an agenda here.

It opens with the pronoucement:

(...) unlike many states, California has no state constitutional counterpart to the Second Amendment. Unless the protections of the Second Amendment extend to citizens living in the States as well as to those living in federal enclaves, California citizens could be deprived of the constitutional right to possess handguns in their homes as affirmed in District of Columbia v. Heller.

He points out that the Heller ruling failed, "to establish a standard of review applicable to asserted Second-Amendment infringements," which is correct.  He also concurs with Halbrook and Gura that the current schism between the 9th Circuit and other circuit courts on the matter of incorporation can only be settled by the Supreme Court.

Gun Control Fails in Iowa

The group known as Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence has closed up shop, citing a loss of funding.  According to Director Rex Honey,

There was a grant with the Joyce foundation for a period of close to a decade from the mid 90s well into this decade, and that funding did end.  That meant we could no longer hire staff, so everything was done on a volunteer basis.

The Joyce Foundation provided IPGV with $400,000 in grants in 2003, but as of 2007, their net income was only $13,927 (pdf).  They also received funds from the Freedom States Alliance, a major Joyce beneficiary.

Squib Loads

S&W Model 29 Mountain Gun. The loads were factory CorBon 200gr .44 Special. The operator was an experienced shooter with military training.

The shooter started with .44 Magnums, then switched to Specials. It's likely that he expected the milder report and recoil of the .44 Special loads and therefore didn't notice the discrepancy at first.

Surprisingly, the ejector rod is fine, as are the topstrap and cylinder. Looks like a new barrel assembly should have her back up and running. The shooter was wearing eye protection and was not hurt.

Lesson learned: be careful when switching between Magnum and Special loads, as you might not pick up on the difference in time.

The November that Never Ended

In September of 1993, America Online (AOL) granted Usenet access to its subscribers. The infrastructure was crippled by the sudden, overwhelming influx of new users, none of whom knew the protocols or cared to learn. These were the days when a 28.8k modem was considered screamingly fast, bandwidth was precious, nobody had the time to sift through countless "me too!" posts.

In early 1994, Dave Fischer referred to this period as the September that Never Ended, and the name stuck. Usenet was, for all intents, dead as a medium and would never recover.

11/05/08 will go down in history as the gun industry's version of this phenomenon. I have seen more lunacy in the last six months than I've seen in my entire life. I've heard conspiracies that would make Art Bell chortle, and trust me, that guy believed in everything. I thought it would die out, but it hasn't.