posted by Caleb on Jul 22
Tastes like chicken.
Only a short time ago the city of Fallujah served as stronghold for insurgents. Daily skirmishes, improvised explosive device detonations and public unease made operating a business in the city very difficult.
Today, with improved security throughout the region, the low price of 4,000 dinar, or $3.50, will purchase a full meal at the recently established Kentucky Fried Chicken in the Hey Al Dubat area of the city.
That’s so awesome it hurts a little bit, actually.
Plus, the fact that they’re opening a KFC in Fallujah of all places sort of makes it harder for the anti-war faction to claim that a) the surge hasn’t worked, or b) that things aren’t getting better - because let’s be honest, fried chicken and biscuits makes EVERYTHING better.
posted by Caleb on Jul 15
The statement of good ol’ Mike Sullivan on the DC vs Heller decision:
ATF is pleased with the Supreme Court’s ruling recognizing that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess firearms, including for private purposes unrelated to militia operations. The court’s ruling is in accordance with the text of the Second Amendment, historical practice, and the Attorney General’s 2001 guidance on the scope of the Second Amendment, and is consistent with the bureau’s understanding of the scope of the Second Amendment. The Bureau also is pleased that the court appropriately made clear that nothing in yesterday’s ruling casts doubt on the constitutionality of ‘longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.’ In addition, the court appropriately recognized that the ‘carrying of dangerous and unusual weapons,’ such as machineguns, is not protected by the amendment. The bureau is studying the decision, but expects that it will not affect its continued enforcement of all existing federal firearms laws.
If you don’t feel like reading the whole thing, let me translate it for you: “Oh thank god they didn’t do anything crazy like say those cousin-humping rednecks could have machineguns. Also, it’s a good thing that they didn’t say anything about catching real criminals, otherwise we’d have to find something to do other than harass law-abiding FFLs.”
I am kidding, sort of. I do think that the BATFE is interested in going after actual criminals, where I think their problem lies is that they don’t really differentiate between a guy who forgets to dot his “t’s” and cross his “i’s” and a guy who is smuggling AK47s in from Mexico.
posted by Caleb on Jul 8
Good for you, Jim Webb. Were I still a resident of NoVA, I would have voted for you.
“Last week I communicated to Senator Obama and his presidential campaign my firm intention to remain in the United States Senate, where I believe I am best equipped to serve the people of Virginia and this country,” Webb said in an issued statement. “Under no circumstances will I be a candidate for Vice President.”
I would like to think that this is in part due to the fact that Sen. Webb is a “blue-dog” democrat, a moderate Democrat who supports the right to keep and bear arms - the kind of Democrat who believes that supporting the troops is more than a lapel pin and lip service.
Now, what I don’t think is that this is a sign that all Democrats are put off by Obama’s far left liberalism or his constant flip-flopping on issues. However, I do think that it shows that among moderates, there is a bit of distaste for this Obama character, and in that case it is likely for the reasons stated above. I mean, if this Obama guy is so freakin’ awesome, how come one of the best democrat senators in a a long time was so quick to distance himself from him?
posted by Caleb on Jun 27
I couldn’t resist one last Heller pun, and for that I apologize. I was pretty busy with work yesterday, and didn’t get the chance to put my thoughts all together in one post. Plus, there was just so much information to digest after the opinion was released that I didn’t even know where to begin.
Overall, I am pleased with the decision; while I would have preferred a 6-3 or a 7-2 win, a win is still a win. Like many others I am concerned about the willingness of four justices to toss out the Constitution because they believe that it means something other than what it says. That concern is the genesis for my reasoning that once the celebrations are over, we need to saddle up and get moving.
I expected that the Court wouldn’t address the issue of licensing and registration; and while they definitely left the back door open on that one, I’m glad they put the “if it is not enforced arbitrarily and capriciously” exception in there. I think that you can make a very strong case to argue that a lot of “may issue” permit processes like those in New York and places in California violate that, as there is no clearly defined process for the everyman to get own a firearm.
Really, the thing that I feel like I need to stress repeatedly (and to use a poor analogy) this is not the end of the war, just a victory in a key battle. The fact that the Court didn’t address incorporation or licensing and registration directly means that we still have a long row to hoe on the right to keep and bears issue. While it is extremely nice to put the final nail into the “collective rights” coffin, we’re not out of the woods yet, not by a long shot.
Lawsuits have already been filed against Chicago, and are pending against San Francisco, and possibly New York.
You know, I haven’t done a “Wisdom of the Duke” post in a long, long time; but I think that today a little John Wayne wisdom would be appropriate. What Would John Wayne say to supporters of gun rights, in light of the monumental decision? From The Sands of Iwo Jima: “Saddle Up!”
posted by Caleb on Jun 27
And Paul Helmke last night was, for lack of a better word, really weird to watch.
You can watch the entire 15 minute segment here.
Chris Matthews doesn’t even bother to hide his bias; repeatedly trying (and failing) to trap Wayne into saying something - look at his questions about “walking down broadway with a bazooka” or “are the government helicopters coming for your guns now”. To his credit, Wayne doesn’t take the bait on any of those.
Paul Helmke though keeps repeating the same arguments that we’ve heard over and over again, and honestly he looked kind of beat up. If you watch the whole thing, a lot of it is him saying “well, yeah, we lost, but…”.
The oddest part was at the end, right after Matthews’ “helicopters” question, where he paid Wayne a kind of weird compliment, calling him “one of the best lobbyists” out there, and then turned to Paul and said “Paul, well…” and just sort of tailed off.
The whole thing is pretty fun to watch though - not only does Wayne do a great job, but Paul just looks defeated and tired.
posted by Caleb on Jun 27
No, there certainly couldn’t be anti-gun bias on CBS News, that would never happen.
It’s not like CBS doesn’t have a track record of just making up whatever they want when it comes to the gun issue.
posted by Caleb on Jun 26
We won today, even if it was a squeaker - we still won. The Supreme Court releasing this opinion, the quote of my lifetime:
The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a
firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for
traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.
The entire nature of the debate about the right to keep and bear arms has been changed by this opinion, which you can read in its entirety at this link.
I’m going to go read the opinion, and I’ll have more commentary at that time.
To Mr. Gura and Mr. Levy, my hat is off to you gentlemen. The contribution your work on this case made to furthering our right to keep and bear arms is almost incalculable. Thank you for dedicating so much blood, sweat, and tears to this case.
Congratulations to Mr. Heller as well, for standing up for your rights and demonstrating that the system does in fact work.
posted by Caleb on Jun 26
A couple of quotes from Paul Erhardt, from Bane’s blog. These need to be jammed into everyone’ skulls across all shooting disciplines, even more so to the people who don’t believe that “practical shooting” isn’t a HUGE shooting sport. I’m cherry picking the really good ones here:
“Handgun competition shooters now outnumber shotgun competition shooters”
“16,000 members of USPSA spent approxmately $45 million just on that sport last year”
Those are just two quotes, if you go to Michael Bane’s blog and read all the coverage he had of the competitive shooting panel discussions, you’ll see a ton of great quotes about practical shooting and how it drives sales and brings positive media coverage.
posted by Caleb on Jun 25
From Michael Bane’s blog:
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) - the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry — has issued the following statement following the concern by some regarding the action items listed for discussion as part of the Shooting Sports Summit:
The action items presented as part of the NSSF Shooting Sports Summit have been developed by researchers predicated upon three years of public opinion research.
The purpose of the summit is to take the intelligence that has been gathered concerning the public opinions of shooters and non-shooters alike and take our ideas and meld them into coherent new programs and policies to attract, retain and re-introduce participants into the shooting sports – ALL the shooting sports.
NSSF has programs for rifles, shotguns, pistols and revolvers. And, as our motto says, we are always shooting for more.
The intelligence gatherers, like any effective reconnaissance team, studied the opinions we must face and reported their suggestions. As to the strengths and weaknesses of possible courses of action, NSSF does not have to accept their recommendations. All decisions as to what actions NSSF will take will be made by NSSF, after full discussions and consideration of all points of view.
The NSSF has no intention of abandoning pistol shooters. Our very successful First Shots program is specifically designed and targeted to encourage pistol sports shooting. Much of the NSSF staff, including its new president, have been pistol shooting both recreationally and competitively for decades – and, in fact, some have worked in the handgun industry. (bold for my emphasis)
NSSF looks forward to completing a successful summit, helping to foster a strong future for all of the shooting sports.
Good for them. I think this is the kind of statement we were hoping for yesterday from NSSF, I am quite pleased to see them issue it now.
I also agree with Michael that we shouldn’t let Responsive Management off the hook easily; the way they interpreted the data does appear to be a clear cut of researcher bias, and it’s right to call them (and not NSSF) out on that.
Back to the statement from the President of NSSF, as I said above I’m very pleased with it - I think it clearly addresses the point that the study does contain valuable data that should be looked at, while making it abundantly clear that the National Shooting Sports Federation has no intention of abandoning handgun shooters. Good for them.
posted by Caleb on Jun 23
George Carlin passed away at age 71.
Despite our very different politics on a lot of issues, I always found him to very funny, he had good delivery and timing; not to mention an absolutely razor-sharp sense of wit and satire.
