Defending The Bridge At All Costs

Too bad this particular one is located on the Kwai River:

Now More Voices Agree on the Need to Fix NICS:

"...We are in the third year of our industry’s national effort to ensure that the system has all the appropriate records put into it.  We call the initiative FixNICS  and we have been successful through our direct efforts to convince 16 state legislatures to pass legislation to ensure that there are no statutory, regulatory, administrative or procedural impediments to entering all appropriate records – criminal and mental health – into NICS." {internal link omitted, and h/t Sayuncle)

Yes, Ve need to in-sure that ev-reboodies papers are in ord...er, I mean that only the desirables get to have gu... er, Oh nevermind.

Fix the background check system? Only if they're talking about fixing it the way Rand Paul videos himself "fixing" the tax code - while the chainsaw method looks fun I've not ruled out the flamethrower as the best option just yet.

The background check system exists to make sure The Wrong People don't exercise a basic, fundamental human Right that's enumerated in at least one applicable constitution. It should be eliminated, not enhanced in its efficiency.

"Yes.  The 'gun lobby' did that.  We prefer to be called the firearms industry, but yes, we did that. We don’t expect the gun control groups to provide any credit to our industry. It runs counter to the narrative that they proffer, and that is too often accepted without challenge by reporters who should know that verifying information should be part of every story they file."

Why should the anti-gunowner groups credit the NSSF for the gun industry's work on background checks? I mean, it's embarrassing when your enemy effectively does your job for you. What is a surprise to most gun owning folks is how willing the firearms industry is to further the cause of gunowner control.

Then they go on to offer a tepid repudiation of extended background checks to private sales. You cannot reasonably prop up background checks at retail and effectively argue against them in other venues. That whole principal thing comes into play and most people aren't convinced by what seems a schizophrenic response.

The only thing to do is to oppose background checks in their entirety, and support abolishing the prohibited persons list altogether. It won't be easy swaying public opinion (especially with so many of our alleged allies cheering the other team on in this matter) but I have a few ideas about that.

And remember, appeasement is for chumps.

Edit: 07/31/15 14:35 MDT I just realized that thanks to the NSSF's efforts, no vet or octogenarian who has someone else deal with their finances will slip through the cracks. After all, the VA and SSA aren't the only ones who keep track of who ain't balancing their own checkbook. I'm sure there are state level programs that have that info and, thanks to such efforts as FixNICS, they'll be sure to include them from now on.

The South

The Anarchangel his-self has a post up I want y'all to read. It's entitled Wounds, and Scars, And Battle Flags.  It's not a short read, but many things that are worth reading tend toward the lengthier side of life. As he warns, it contains something to piss off just about everyone concerning this issue. But read it as what I'll write will make more sense with his post in mind.

Now that you've presumably read it, I disagree with My Byrne's base assertion - that the confederate battle flag is a symbol of hatred towards black folks. I agree that some if not many black people have this view, but in general it's not quite what it seems.

^{When a person sees the flag that once flew over the Army of Northern Virginia, they don't see it a as symbol of hatred. They see it as a symbol of The South. They view The South as something that represents hatred. They're gravely mistaken, but that's what they see.} 

What was missed in that very well thought out post is what southerners see, specifically southerners that grew up in the 1960's through 1990's.

Vets And Purges

Workmageddon appears to be easing up momentarily, but I don't want to count my days off before they hatch. Posting may continue to be light (er, nonexistent) for a while, but whilst I have some time I'll try to jot down a few things.

So, Obama has told Israel that if they like the peace in our time they can keep it and goes on to criticize critics of his so called deal. Steyn disagrees that this is comparable to Chamberlain, as Chamberlain actually loved his country, or to Munich, as this seems far worse than Munich.

Domestically Obama is moving to disarm what seems like old folks. I don't think that's his goal though.

"The Obama administration wants to keep people collecting Social Security benefits from owning guns if it is determined they are unable to manage their own affairs, the Los Angeles Times reported."

That same criteria is used by the VA. Coincidence? I kinda doubt it. Methinks this is geared towards disarming vets. If some old folks get caught in this net, no biggie, but the goal is vets. 

Far fetched you say? I'll remind you of that DHS report from 2009 which listed vets, among others, as potential terrorist threats. Legislation is almost assuredly out of the question, so Obama is doing what he can (and more if one puts any stock in the Bill of Rights or that whole separation of powers notion) through executive action, and if your resources are limited you use them on what you perceive as the greatest threat within your capabilities of acting upon. In this case, it's vets.

Of course, hypocrisy is obvious - telling folks who can't balance a checkbook that they're unfit to own firearms coming from a guy who can't balance a budget yet has nukes at his disposal?

A lot of folks - millions from what I gather - have some trouble keeping their finances together. Now if you look at the Rand Paul videos where he literally destroys copies of the u.S. tax code you'll perhaps note the enormity of the documents. It is perfectly reasonable to be able to competently own and use a device as mechanically and morally simple as a firearm while not wanting the stress of flipping through 70,000 pages of legalease to interfere with trying to deal with whatever it is you're trying to deal with. Hell, most folks without PTSD or some other ailment don't want to deal with the tax code. That in no way reflects their competence with firearms, or motor vehicles or power tools.

But for this administration it's a way to disarm those that are seen as the most pressing threat. After all a veteran presumably has training in the use of arms and would therefore be able to put up the most resistance to any government imposed efforts to force a population into doing something it really didn't want to do. I am not saying or even implying that Obama is looking to declare martial law, crown himself president for life and start setting up re-education centers to murder 25 million stubborn Americans (the latter was only endorsed by Obama's pals, not by Obama himself). But if you see a group as a threat you try to take away their ability to do you harm. If old folks get disarmed along the way I doubt anyone in this administration will shed a tear.

I should also note that Obama has been making some changes within the military itself.  Not just cultural changes, but a reduction in troops as well. There are suggestions of a purge of the military, not only of high ranking officers who aren't politically or socially desirable, but of the warrior class. I don't think this is part of some diabolical plot but simply an extension of Obama's (and the Progressives) worldview. He sees everything as political, and the military is a cultural problem that needs attention. Military culture ain't perfect - no culture its. But military culture is as close as can be of an institutionalized form of Scots-Irish culture, which is an abhorrence to the Progressive culture. Therefore it requires no Machiavellian plot to conclude that the changes he's trying to make to the military are an extension of the changes he's trying to make to society at large. Not good changes, as they all operate on the foundation of videri quam esse as does the Progressive culture itself, but not changes involving any sort of conspiracy.

Of course, just because there's no conspiracy doesn't mean they're not out to get ya, and you don't really need an excuse to stock ammo cans four or more deep. 

Tunes For Gunnuts Part 1

 By chance I found a CD just lying on the ground. Normally I'd have just tossed it in a trash can but on it was written "Gunnut songs" Intrigued I took it home & popped it in a player. I was astounded as I never noticed the tunes on it were in fact geared towards the Gun Culture. I must have misheard the lyrics for all these years. Here are a few of the titles

A.R. U Gonna Go My Way (Lenny Kravitz)
R.O. Got Us Fallin' In Love (Usher)
She's Only 17 (HMR!) (Winger)
It's Still Rock Island Armory To Me (Billy Joel)
Glock Around The Clock (Bill Hailey)
My Baby Garand (Billy Joel)
The Garand Tour (George Jones)
Trigger Control (Janet Jackson)
Three Times a Lahti (The Commodores)
For Those About To Glock (AC/DC)

 Damned montegreen. 

30 Ain't Enough

30 pieces rounds of silver were offered to us. Allegedly. Kinda. Maybe. Sorta.

A democrat, none other than ol' "you don't know if you're being raped" Salazar (D-Thorton), mentioned he might go for upping the limit on magazine capacity to 30 rounds. He wasn't speaking on behalf of his party, he wasn't making a solid proposal, he just tossed that out there.

I doubt that the dems would have gone for it. even if it could have passed the house it'd be moot as it would have never passed out of committee to get to a floor vote in the house. And Hick would have never signed it, as Bloomie the Hut would have denied him permission to do so.

But like a scrap of meat dropped twixt two hungry dogs much fighting has ensued over it.

I won't get into the players involved as that's not all that important. What is important is that A: a lot of gunowners fell for it and B: a lot of gunowners don't realize what they fell for.

The Covers Are New But The School Is Old

Posting has been and likely will continue to be light, so in lieu of actual content I have something a bit cheerier - interesting covers of popular tunes, like Trainor's "All About That Bass" (Postmodern Jukebox European Tour version), Smith's "I'm Not The Only One" (Vintage New Orleans style), Maroon 5's "Maps" (Vintage 1970's Soul version), Blackstreet's "No Diggity" (Vintage Jessica Rabbit style), Guns'n'Roses' "Sweet Child Of Mine" (New Orleans style), Bishop's "Fooled Around and Fell In Love" (dobro, upright, snare & heels version), Bel Biv Devoe's "Poison" (Vintage Old Jack Swing version), Thicke's "Blurred Lines" (Vintage Bluegrass Barn Dance style), Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" (Orchestral Funk version), Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" (Vintage 1920's Al Capone style), and Franklin's "Baby I Love You" (jeans and dobro version).

If you've never heard of Miche Braden, Morgan James, Shoshana Bean, Ariana Savalas, Hailey Reinhart, Robyn Adele Anderson or Casey Abrams, then below the fold I'll help you correct that distressing oversight.

The Highs And Thurlows

Via Mandy Connell, I see that state rep. Thurlow is upsetting his constituents. In case you didn't jot it down, Thurlow voted with the dems to kill a bill that would have forced the CBI to respond to NFA paperwork within 5 days. He did vote correctly on the other gunowner bills that were up that day, but his attempts to reach across the aisle in other areas are ticking off folks that voted for him. This is perhaps why the old guard GoP around here doesn't like the concept of recalls - they know it can be used against RINO's just as effectively as against dems.

Ten Years American Time Etc

Again, apropos of something in particular (though probably none of my damn bid'niz), a few vids below the break.

Killing Daylight

Savings Time, that is. Here's an article discussing some of the reasons to nix DST. I will add this; all the hipsters who revel in the extra hour of daylight after clocking out of their 9 to 5 - they, like proponents of smoking bans, think musicians make way too much money.

Ya see, DST results in folks spending less time in bars. I don't just mean the little dance joints with electronica blasting louder than the obnoxiousness of the $20 cover, I mean bars where working bands ply their trade. Less of a crowd means less revenue is generated, and therefore less money the bar owner has to pay the band.

So when someone asks why aren't there any good blues bands around any more and everyone's stuck listening to N'Sync records at the local bar of choice, now you can tell them - it was the government's attempt to make thing better by arbitrarily changing the time so senators can have an extra hour-ish on the back 9 each day.

(I'm not exaggerating all that much - the decrease in revenue because of DST won't usually wipe out a bar scene where live music is the draw, but it will hamper it for the players. Making a living playing music was difficult enough that even a little bit mo' difficult can't be justified to me by skiiers wanting to stay on the slopes til 8 or 9 p.m.)

Petty Is As Petty Does

Ages ago, I was a regular on a Guns and Ammo forum. I am not positive, but I suspect that a notable gunwriter who at that time had recently dropped by started grumbling about KeepAndBearArms.com as there were several postings from there that did not present the NRA in a good light. I defended the use of KABA as it was very informative, especially back then, and tried to explain that it was a clearinghouse of firearm related news, though it seems the powers that be were either daft or biased. A new policy was announced that any posts containing links to KABA would be deleted. A few days later, one of my posts was deleted because it contained a link to a KABA story (I forget the details, but I recall it wasn't bashing the NRA or anything - just a bit of news I thought relevant).  I left. Never posted there again. Never bought another G&A magazine or anything from Petersen Publishing.

So it's a bit sad that KABA has resorted to the same petty behavior.

Ya Best Stay Off His Lawn

Perusing the CMP forums I stumbled across a post that I thought was worth sharing. Here's the accompanying photo:

And here's the post about a vet acquiring his first Garand since leaving the Army.


The person who posted and the vet pictured live in Wyoming. If they'd been just a few hundred miles south this neighborly gesture would have involved a trip to a gun store, government paperwork, a fee and a wait for approval from some bureaucrat, all to make sure this octogenarian wasn't one of the wrong people.

Luckily they live in America* instead of Colorado, so it was a rather simple exchange. Somehow, even without government oversight, I don't think anyone is gonna lose sleep worrying about this fine old gent knocking over  a liquor store with his recent acquisition (well, except for those jack-asses who want to keep this "military-grade weapons off the streets"**). Trespassing would be ill advised however. Remind's me of a post over at The Smallest Minority: Old Men Must Be Dangerous. Go read that one if you haven't already.
 


(*That'd be the current America, not the Bloomberg/Obama/Gottlieb America where Universal Background Checks would have been traded for some beads and promises not worth the paper they're printed on. Remember this tale when folks try to sell you on UBC's for some other concessions. Don't let America become BOG'ed down.)

(** At the cost of at least 41 jobs and over the objections of Senator Leahy (D-Vermont) amongst others, Obama used his executive power to block the re-importation of M1 Garands from South Korea, implying that they were too dangerous for mere civilians to possess. Criticism of this move could be found in the expected places, like Ammoland but also from Obama-friendly sites like the Huffington Post. [The CMP does not use commercial channels to acquire its stock of M1 rifles and is therefore unaffected.] Of course, I regard this action of Obama's as a high crime and/or misdemeanor and am sorely disappointed that impeachment proceedings have not begun in regard to this.)

Wait A Minute or 77,760

It is worth mentioning that the Colorado GoP had a stand off with the dems here over increasing funding for the CBI's background check department.  Colorado Pols wasn't happy with them ( that's a very left leaning publication btw) and has a nice conspiracy theory take on things (i.e. the GoP wants the backlog to go past 90 days so people won't have to have background checks for CCW permits). The Gazzaette has a more head covering-sans-aluminum foil discussion:

"If we're going to add people and we're going to expand the program, it's more appropriate to do it during the budget, not a supplemental,' House Minority Leader Brian DelGrosso, R-Loveland, said. 'I think that is a department that the numbers may fluctuate."

Further, Sloan (the head of the CBI) has a problem with arithmetic. Back in 2013 before the gunonwer control laws were passed, the CBI had trouble keeping up with background checks. wait times were well over 9 days at one point. Finally CBI re-allocated some staff to reduce the backlog,  but it always seemed to me that the long waits had more to do with Sloan wanting to use them as an excuse to increase his budget than them merely being overwhelmed. His comprehension seems questionable as well, judging from his inability to answer a question about a law he supports and would oversee enforcement of.

Back to the Gazette article, with the appearance of deceptive practices by the CBI's head, I find this next quote to be plausible:

"DelGrosso said the denial of funds shows the agency was not convincing in the need for the mid-fiscal year budget increase."

So perhaps the budget committee used calculators when Sloan was speaking?

"Traditionally, when the House and Senate cannot agree on a final version of a bill a temporary committee is formed to hash out the issue and find a middle ground.
On this issue, however, Senate Republicans adhered to their original version and sent the bill back to the House to either be approved without the background check appropriation or the entire bill would die."

That's promising.

The Durango Herald also covers this story:

"The current wait time is about 54 days on background checks. The additional money aimed to lower that time to about 20 days. Wait times are expected to increase past 54 days without the funding. Colorado law requires permits to be issued without a background check if the wait time crawls past 90 days."

54 days? 54? To get permission to exercise a Right? And Sloan's request for more funds would only cut that wait to 20 days? I'd assume that's 20 business days, mind you. 54 days is 77,760 minutes to wait on something that should be instantaneous if it is to be tolerated at all.

"But Sen. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs, chairman of the JBC, said some of the blame should be placed on the CBI. He also suggested that Colorado should adopt a different concealed-carry background check law that models one used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which Lambert said would reduce wait times to one day.

'I believe the request at this time is superfluous and unnecessary,' Lambert said."

So it may not be that the GoP has a problem with the concept of background checks 9much to their discredit), it could be that they think that waiting 20 days, or 54 days, or more than one is ridiculous. 

It's nice to see the GoP here showing some backbone. Shame the same can't easily be said of the national Gop. But if the Colorado GoP was really interested in protecting the Rights of folks to own and carry weapons, then they should expand this new-found linkage of vertebra into a broader effort, similar to the one I proposed here.

Colorado Pro Gunowner Bill Updates Continued

 The previous update can be found here.

The hearing for SB15-175 (the magazine capacity ban repeal [.pdf]) will be on Monday, March 9th at 1:30 p.m. MDT in room 271 of the capital building in Denver, Co

Here's the senate's judiciary committee page where you'll find contact info. A note in the senate calender said that remote testimony was available for this committee session, so if you'd like to testify but cannot make a physical appearance at the capital then go to this page, fill out the form and select the location closest to you from the drop down menu. It seems they have several locations around the state for a person to testify from. It's not perfect, but it'd save you driving into Denver from way out of town.

I am not positive, but the Colorado Channel may stream audio and/or video of the committee hearing. Try them at 1:30 p.m. MDT.  

HB15-1152 (a permitless carry bill [.pdf]) will be heard by the house state, veterans and military affairs committee on Monday April 6th (time and location to be announced).

HB15-1168 (carry on school grounds by permit holders [.pdf]) will be heard by the house state, veterans and military affairs committee on Monday April 6th (time and location to be announced).

That's all the movement on these bills since the last update (linked to at the beginning of this post). 

The house state, veterans and military affairs committee is where the leadership sends bills that they do not wish to see on the house floor for a full vote. Last time they killed all the pro-gunowner bills that were before them. It's likely that they'd do the same this time around. I should note that noted "civil rights" lawyer Joe Salazar (you remember Joe don't ya? Mr. "A woman shouldn't carry a gun because she doesn't know if she's being raped"?) is the vice-chair of that committee. That he might ever forget that he uttered that sentiment would be cause for the very stones themselves to weep, so if you're in his district by all means, keep mentioning it to him and anyone that can listen.

As I said it's likely that the kill committee will live up to its name. Still, it's worth writing your reps and showing up if you can. The senate committee is much more favorable, but again it's a good idea to show up if you can, or contact your senator if you can't.

March Sixth Two Thousand Fifteen

I'm very tired and where I am it's almost the 7th and I'm just not up to attempting a clever title or explanation (I don't claim to actually come up with anything clever, I merely try) for this post. Here's Tony! Toni! Tone! doing an old fav of mine from 1993. Enjoy.

More On The Law And Open Carry

The video below was posted about by Say Uncle and (with a h/t to Mr. Vanderboegh) Bob Owens. I'll embed the video here as well, for y'alls convenience.

A lot of folks, gunowners even, seem to feel that this fellow's detention was justified and the cop did no wrong. Some downright nasty condemnation of the open carrier has been and likely will continue to go on (from gunowners no less). But there's another video I'd like you to watch before you start to load boulders into that onager (that sits atop the Maison de Verre in which you may reside) and fling them at someone who looks differently than you and enjoys his Rights in a different fashion than you may be accustomed:

In this instance, I think a lot of gunowners would benefit from learning More, n'est-ce pas?

Snow Related Note Part Deja Vu

This isn't the same pic from the other day (this one was taken a few hours ago) but it is oddly reminiscent, no?
The snow was almost all melted off the bike by Wednesday morning. But then fell another few inches (and by few I mean just shy of 8) of nature's own Darwinian Test Media, Driver, Instantaneous. That's slacked up but they're calling for another few inches tonight, and a few more inches through the weekend (with a predicted high of 19 today and climbing up steadily to a balmy 29 by Sunday). At last check, we were two-point-something inches away from being the snowiest February on record. I am confident that by Saturday evening we will have the raw material to exceed that quota and thus provide meteorologists from all around an excuse to break out their erasers and scribble some new lines, or go boarding or something.

To toss in something gun related (cause this is a gun blog primarily. I think): all those gelatin tests that proved your round of choice was superb and reliable and tacticute and all that - you did see how it did with a few layers of denim in front of the Jell-o didnja? Cause methinks in the icebox that is this part of the world (and perhaps yourn too) the bad guys like to bundle up just as sure as they don't like to leak, and having that nice, downright purdy snapshot of what your projectile does in bare collagen derivative may not tell the whole story once the thermostat justifies a parka. Just askin'.

 But (as if one needed an excuse) this weather does seem to warrant a little Over The Rhine:

.

Still Smokin

Ah, Sleepy Brown, son of Jimmy Brown (lead singer and sax player for the ol' disco band Brick). This tune of his has a groove so deep that it's damn near pornographic. Contrary to the beliefs of Steve Goodman and David Allen Coe I don't think there's a "perfect" song for any given genre, but this tune right here comes about as close as one could to the platonic ideal of R&B groove. I bring this tune to ya for two reasons. 1; it reminds me of damn near every bass player I've ever known some old pals and 2; it seemed fitting since the idiots that run Boulder are at it again:

Boulder's Expanded Outdoor Smoking Ban Get Final Approval

"The ban will apply within the boundaries of the downtown business district, which extends several blocks around the Pearl Street Mall, including alleys within the district, all city parks and open space, Chautauqua, Flatirons Golf Course, multi-use paths, within 25 feet of those paths, and within 25 feet of bus stops and building entrances."

Outdoors. Because second hand smoke? Nope; this is nothing more than an attempt to wipe out behavior, perhaps a subculture as they see it, that they find undesirable. That's why it includes e-cigarettes.

"The vote was unanimous." 

That should simplify things, like voting the bums out, or getting indictments. At the very least, if anyone on your property mentions that they're on the Boulder City Council, you won't have to ask their name and thumb through a list - you can just grab them by the scruff and toss them out..

On Malls And The Price Of Slavery

Last summer a former deputy CIA director warned of possible attacks at shopping malls, saying if a terrorist showed up with an AK-47 and started shooting it wouldn't surprise him. Last fall reports of the Islamic State operating just across the southern border were taken seriously enough for a military base to alter the way it handles its security.

Here and here are stories (with annoying auto-play vids) about a recent Al-Shabaab (an Islamic terrorist group that is aligned with Al-Qaeda) video calling for armed attacks on American shopping malls.  The Mall of America was mentioned specifically and they have said they were increasing security measures - perhaps by making their Gun Free Zone signs bigger? After the Al-Shabaab attack on the Westgate mall in Kenya, the Interpol chief said there were two methods to protect people from similar attacks; either create an extremely secure perimeter or arm the citizenry. I guess Mall of America didn't get the message.

Michael Bane elaborates on the threatening messages the Islamic State has for the u.S.and some thoughts to keep in mind as well as to act on. He also points to something that has been making the rounds - the Islamic State's price list for slaves.

According to this list a Yazadi or Christian girl between 10 and 20 years old will sell for $130. There's a reason they failed to list the price for an American girl -  at 13 years old the price is already way too high for them to pay:

And as an American woman gets older that price ain't getting no cheaper:

More and more women are becoming gun owners in this country. The reasons vary, and most likely protection from the more common domestic variety of thug is the main concern, but not ending up on the auction block is a definite incidental benefit. Free people own guns. Slaves don't.

Colorado Pro Gunowner Bill Updates

On February 23rd at 1:30 p.m. MST in room 271 of the Capital building in Denver, Colorado, SB15-175 (The magazine capacity ban repeal [.pdf]) will be heard by the state senate's judiciary committee. It will likely pass out of committee but it's still a very good idea to keep the pressure on.

Here's the senate's judiciary committee page where you'll find contact info. A note in the senate calender said that remote testimony was available for this committee session, so if you'd like to testify but cannot make a physical appearance at the capital then go to this page, fill out the form and select the location closest to you from the drop down menu. It seems they have several locations around the state for a person to testify from. It's not perfect, but it'd save you driving into Denver from way out of town.

I am not positive, but the Colorado Channel may stream audio and/or video of the committee hearing. Try them at 1:30 p.m. MST. 

SB15-086 (The UBC repeal [.pdf]) passed out of the senate judiciary committee (3-2) and was sent to the senate finance committee.

SB15-032 (The permitless carry bill [.pdf]) passed out of the senate and is waiting to be introduced in the house. (I discussed this bill a bit in this post here.)

Rocky Mountain Gun Owners' Billwatch page is a good way to keep up with the status of things in the state legislature, if you ain't hip to it already.

Update: 02-22-15 19:50 MST The hearing for SB15-175 has been postponed due to inclement weather.

Update: 03-07-15 14:25 MST The hearing for SB15-175 will be on Monday, March 9th at 1:30 p.m. MDT in room 271 of the capital building in Denver, Co. 

Snow Related Note Part Sumfinsumfin

Sometimes after not riding for a spell a person will brave the cold and risk getting a little chilly just to get some time in on a bike.

Today definitely ain't sometimes.