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comments in () by Stephen P. Wenger
By the Way…: In my lengthy comments yesterday about rifle selection, I
neglected to repeat a point I have made earlier. While some people
have beefs with the Stoner AR-15 system, it does offer the advantage
of being modular in that the upper and lower receivers separate with
two push pins. Thus, the gunner who does not wish to spend the money,
say on two rifles of different chamberings, can simply purchase one or
more additional uppers for an AR-15 (a term I use generically, to
include non-Colt clones). In addition to the original .223 chambering,
upper receivers can be purchased in 7.62x39mm, 6.8mm SPC, 6.5mm
Grendel and .450 Bushmaster, to name a few. Further, they can also be
purchased in different "styles," including gas-piston versions, as
well as different barrel lengths. One caveat, however – several years
back, in an apparent effort to placate F Troop, Colt relocated the
hole in the lower receiver for the forward pin on their AR-15's. Most
other manufacturers leave it in the same location as the M16. If you
try to mount someone else's upper receiver on a Colt AR-15 lower
receiver, you may need to use a special adapter pin.
---
Similar Words, Different Tune: In an apparent effort to jumble the
battle lines in the fight over health care reform, Mississippi
Republican Gov. Haley Barbour on Sunday compared the individual
mandate for health insurance to forcing Americans to buy guns. "Not
only you must buy a product called health insurance, you must buy a
product that has been approved by the United States government, and
the price of that product will be fixed by the United States," Barbour
said on ABC's "This Week." "I do not believe the United States
government has a right, it has the authority or power to force us to
purchase health insurance any more than, in the name of homeland
security, they can force every American to have to buy a gun," the
governor said… (On Saturday I linked an article from Salon that argued
that the Militia Act of 1792 set a precedent for a federal mandate to
purchase a product – a firearm for militia duty. Cities and counties
that have passed mandatory firearm-ownership ordinances have usually
exempted those with a religious opposition, as did some early American
colonial and state militia laws. Big Brother's healthcare bill
reportedly has a similar exemption but only for very carefully
selected religions, including Muslims.)
Waco, Jr.?: The FBI said Sunday that agents conducted weekend raids in
Michigan, Indiana and Ohio and arrested at least three people, and a
militia leader in Michigan said the target of at least one of the
raids was a Christian militia group. Federal warrants were sealed, but
a federal law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity
said some of those arrested face gun charges and officials are
pursuing other suspects… Michael Lackomar, a spokesman for the
Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia, said one of his team leaders
got a frantic phone call Saturday evening from members of Hutaree, a
Christian militia group, who said their property in southwest Michigan
was being raided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives. "They said they were under attack by the ATF and wanted a
place to hide," Lackomar said. "My team leader said, 'no thanks.' "
The team leader was cooperating with the FBI on Sunday, Lackomar said.
He said SMVM wasn't affiliated with Hutaree, which states on its Web
site to be "prepared to defend all those who belong to Christ and save
those who aren't." …Lackomar said none of the raids focused on his
group. Lackomar said about eight to 10 members of Hutaree trained with
SMVM twice in the past three years. SMVM holds monthly training
sessions focusing on survival training and shooting practice, Lackomar
said…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100328/ap_on_re_us/us_fbi_raids
Nine suspects tied to a Christian militia in the Midwest are charged
with conspiring to kill police officers, then attack a funeral in the
hopes of killing more law enforcement personnel, federal prosecutors
said Monday. U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said agents moved on the
group because the Hutaree members were planning a violent
reconaissance mission sometime in April - just a few days away.
Members of the group called Hutaree are charged in the case, including
their leader, David Brian Stone, also known as "Captain Hutaree." Once
other officers gathered for a slain officer's funeral, the group
planned to detonate homemade bombs at the funeral, killing more,
according to newly unsealed court papers…
At least seven people, including some from Michigan, have been
arrested in raids by a FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force in Michigan,
Ohio and Indiana as part of an investigation into an Adrian-based
Christian militia group, a person familiar with the matter said. The
suspects are expected to make an initial appearance in U.S. District
Court in Detroit on Monday. On Sunday, a source close to the
investigation in Washington, D.C. confirmed that FBI agents were
conducting activities in Washtenaw and Lenawee counties over the
weekend in connection to Hutaree, a Christian militia group. Detroit
FBI Special Agent Sandra Berchtold told The Detroit News the federal
warrants in the case are under court seal and declined further
comment… (I link these articles with no knowledge of the actual facts
but a memory of the fabrications involved in the Waco raid and an
awareness of the current drive to discredit the resistance to Big
Brother. I do not recall FBI raids on known Muslim training camps in
the US. Wait and see…)
F Troop to Become Real Cops?: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives is getting back to basics and will emphasize its core
mission of combating violent crime, conceding the lead role of
investigating and stopping terrorism to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, according to an unpublished draft of its new strategic
plan. The draft plan, which covers fiscal 2010 through 2016, will
focus on ten areas including criminal groups and gangs, and illegal
fire arms trafficking, among others. The previous strategic plan -
which covered fiscal 2004 to 2009 - contained a mission statement that
said the bureau's work would seek to "prevent terrorism, reduce
violent crime and to protect the public in a manner that is faithful
to the Constitution and the laws of the United States." But under the
new plan, the ATF is taking on a less prominent role in investigating
terrorism – leaving the issue primarily to the FBI – as it instead
refocuses on combating violent crime… The draft of the plan, in the
final editing stages, lists ten core functions of the bureau. ATF's
strategic leadership team prioritized six of those core functions
under the new plan. Four of the prioritized core functions are mission
activities – criminal groups and gangs; explosives bombs, and
bombings; illegal firearms trafficking; and fire and arson. Two others
are management priorities in the areas of workforce and modernization…
(Get real! F Troop originated as tax collectors – the much despised
"revenooers" – and has been seeking a larger fiefdom ever since. This
draft appears to be an attempt to resolve the urination contests that
develop when F Troop and "the bureau" show up at the same crime
scenes.)
http://www.mainjustice.com/2010/03/28/atfs-new-strategic-plan-focuses-on-violent-crime/
---
Mexican President Repeats 90% Lie – or Is It Reuters?: Powerful groups
in the United States appear to be blocking efforts to stem the flow of
assault weapons fueling Mexico's drug war, Mexican President Felipe
Calderon said in an interview broadcast on Sunday. Calderon, who has
deployed tens of thousands of soldiers and police to fight drug
cartels, told Fareed Zakaria's "GPS" program on CNN that there was
resistance in Washington to Mexico's demands that sales of such
weapons be stopped. "They (U.S. officials) say that they are facing
strong opposition and there is powerful lobbies in the Congress in
order to change that situation," Calderon said in a pre-taped
interview in Mexico City. The Mexican leader added that solving the
cross-border gun trafficking problem was critical to his bid to crack
down on the drug-related violence that has killed 4,600 people in the
past two years. Mexico says 90 percent of the weapons used by drug
gangs are bought in the United States, often legally. Mexican
officials also want to see the U.S. Congress reinstate a ban on the
sale of assault weapons that expired in 2004… (The 90% claim has
repeatedly been shown to be a lie; it is a rounding up of the
percentage of seized firearms that Mexico has asked the US to trace.
Mexico has no reason to ask the US to trace firearms purloined from
its own armories or obviously smuggled in from Central and South
America. The AK-47, in its original military configuration, is the
trademark of the Mexican drug cartels. These are not readily available
in American gun stores and would require NFA paperwork if they were.)
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62R13320100328?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
---
More Internal Feuding: After seeing an intriguing advertisement by the
United States Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) in the NRA magazine
America's First Freedom, I decided to download some "free" shooting
skills information. That's when I began to wonder about the USCCA's
authenticity. It turned out there were two downloads. The first had
the most basic information on shooting skills. You'll learn them
better by attending NRA's Basic Pistol class. In order to get the
allegedly-good "free" information, you had to join USCCA. Ads like
this enable USCCA to gather emails. No problem. That's the way
internet marketing works: You get a freebie in exchange for personal
information. I didn't think more about it until Tim Schmidt, founder
of USCCA, sent an email recently, advertising more "free" material.
This time, you had to join to get it. This was interesting, but not in
the way USCCA intended… All of this adds up to a suspicion that
Schmidt uses his skills to exploit a market need. A reasonable
capitalist behavior, except when one derives most of the benefit at
others' expense. Then it slips into predation. Your best investment?
Join your state organization and take advanced defensive pistol
training. (I don't recall what it was that led me not to join USCCA
when it was first formed. I had been thinking of giving them a second
look recently, after having forwarded a few of their articles, which
had been posted at Human Events. All of a sudden, I see a groundswell
of complaints about their mass-marketing campaign, which seems to be
mimicking that of the NRA, without the lobbying efforts. All I can say
with confidence is that those who choose to may purchase copies of my
book and travel to Show Low to train with me. My website and mailings
remain available at no charge and I have never failed to answer any
legitimate question asked of me about the defensive use of firearms,
in person, by phone or by e-mail.)
Iowa Senate Passes Shall-Issue Bill: Iowa would become a "shall issue"
state and sheriffs would lose much of their discretion in denying
concealed weapons permits under legislation approved by the Senate
Saturday. Senate File 2379, adopted 44-4, would create uniform
standards in all 99 counties for issuing permits to carry a concealed
weapon in public. Under current law, sheriffs can issue or deny
permits. There standards vary with some issuing permits to nearly
everyone who applies and some denying nearly all applications. Nearly
35,000 Iowans have concealed carry permits, according to lawmakers…
The bill is one of four "must-do" bills on the House agenda, Majority
Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines, said. Rep. Clel Baudler,
R-Greenfield, who has been working on the issue for 12 years, called
standardization of 99 sets of rules a "fairness issue." …Under the
bill, Iowans who need to carry a gun for their job could get a permit
starting at 18. Otherwise, applicants would have to be 21 to get a
nonprofessional permit. Permits could be denied for alcohol addiction
or probable cause based on documentation of past actions that an
applicant might use a weapon in a way to endanger himself, others or
the public safety. Anyone convicted of misdemeanor assault within the
prior three years could be denied a permit. Several other federal and
state disqualifiers apply… (Iowa's estimated population for 2008 was
3,002,555. If nearly 35,000 Iowans currently hold permits, that's
nearly 1.2%. It's not clear how many of those are "nonprofessional"
permits.)
Nebraska Legislators Nix Omaha Registration: Nebraska lawmakers want
to force the city of Omaha to stop requiring those with
concealed-carry gun permits to register their firearms with the city.
On Monday, they passed an amendment that would stop the practice in
Omaha. The approval of the amendment follows an opinion from Attorney
General Jon Bruning's office on Friday that Omaha has been violating
state law by forcing people who have permits to carry concealed guns
to also register their guns. The formal opinion said Omaha's rule
isn't allowed under a law that bars cities from preventing
concealed-carry permit holders from carrying concealed guns inside
city limits. Background checks, training and fingerprinting are
required to get concealed-carry permits. (I assume this bill awaits
only the governor's signature as Omaha has a unicameral legislature.)
http://www.1011now.com/news/headlines/89415787.html
---
California Open-Carry Event: Vallejo's Washington Park is set to be
the setting of an "open carry" gun rights gathering next weekend. In
what has become an increasingly familiar scene throughout the Bay
Area, between 100 to 150 people will show up Saturday to expose the
general public to gun rights, organizers say. "We're just raising
community awareness and kind of acclimating people to the idea (of
carrying guns)," said Brad Huffman, a Martinez resident who is
organizing the event in Vallejo. Openly carrying guns on a belt
holster is legal in California so long as the firearms remain unloaded
and aren't near schools or government buildings. In the past six
months, gun rights advocates have gathered with their unloaded weapons
everywhere from restaurants in Walnut Creek to coffee shops in
Livermore as a way to show their right to bear arms and help normalize
the idea of gun-toting by law-abiding citizens in California, Huffman
said…
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_14773993?nclick_check=1
---
While in Montana…: Esther Suhr stood on the Capitol lawn Saturday
afternoon proudly displaying her .54-caliber black-powder rifle. Suhr,
who lives in the Townsend area, said she came to the rally to show her
support for the constitutional right to bear arms. About 200 others
also participated. The event was a precursor to the national Second
Amendment March, which will take place April 19 on the grounds of the
Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. Suhr and her husband, Bill
Waldron, said they are hunters and sport shooters and also carry for
protection. They both also have concealed weapons licenses. Waldron
had in a holster a .500 Smith and Wesson handgun, which he uses for
grizzly bear protection. He said his time overseas in the military
taught him to fight for his rights at home…
http://www.helenair.com/news/article_f64e8ea6-3a33-11df-b5be-001cc4c002e0.html
---
A New Mexico Liberal Defends the RKBA: Because of a Supreme Court
argument, McDonald vs. Chicago, the liberals who defend gun rights are
coming out of the woodwork. The Supreme Court is expected to rule
before June on the case that decides whether or not state and local
ordinances violate the Second Amendment. It should be no surprise that
there are liberals who see gun rights as part and parcel of their
individual rights, and going hand-in-hand with abortion rights, gay
rights and civil rights. Bodily autonomy is important to liberals. The
liberal view is, if a woman looks in her empty pantry and knows
without a doubt that she and her husband cannot feed another child,
the choice is hers because it is her body and her family. Likewise,
what a body does in his own bedroom is his own business. So why
wouldn't any person big on bodily autonomy also support the gun rights
that protect that body and the bodies of his or her family? …
http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-opinion/ci_14751179
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Oops, Wrong Apartment: Columbus [OH] police yesterday identified the
victim in a Friday night shooting on the Northeast Side as Charles R.
Sprague, 35, of Columbus. Sprague was shot while trying to break into
an apartment at 5764 Cooper Rd., said detective James Day of the
homicide squad. A man inside the apartment fired shots because he felt
threatened by Sprague, Day said. "It appeared that the victim in this
incident was the aggressor and that the shooter was acting in
self-defense," Day said. "He'd actually tried to force his way into
the apartment at the back door when this occurred." Sprague was shot
outside the apartment, which is in a three-unit building between
Minerva Park and Westerville. He died shortly after 10 p.m. at Mount
Carmel St. Ann's hospital. Sprague was a registered sex offender with
a criminal history that includes a 2006 conviction for gross sexual
imposition. He served a sentence of a year and a half at Madison
Correctional Institution before his release in November 2007. He was
still under the Adult Parole Authority's supervision, state prison
records show. Day said the shooter told investigators that he fought
with Sprague, who was nearly twice his size, and tried to convince him
to leave before firing shots. Detectives released the shooter after
questioning. The case will be sent to the Franklin County grand jury
for review. (The victim was the aggressor?)
Oops, Wrong House: Police continued Monday to investigate a deadly
shooting in Perry Hall [MD] and have released the names of the
homeowner and the man who was shot. Marvin Cook Jr., 29, died in the
Sunday morning incident, police said. Officers responded at about 5:45
a.m. Sunday to a home in the 4200 block of Chapel Road. Detectives
discovered that the homeowner, William Bozman Sr., 68, was asleep when
he was awakened by a suspect who entered his bedroom. Cook pointed a
handgun at Bozman and demanded money, police said. Bozman retrieved a
handgun he had nearby and pointed it at Cook, ordering him to drop his
gun, according to police. Cook then advanced toward Bozman, who fired
several shots, police said. Cook was taken to Franklin Square
Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. No charges have been filed…
http://www.wbaltv.com/news/22979389/detail.html
http://www.examiner.com/x-18149-SelfDefense-Examiner~y2010m3d28-Armed-burglar-fatally-shot-by-armed-homeowner
---
Rule Four Reminder: A toddler remains in critical condition after
accidentally being fired at by officers in Jacksonville [FL] as they
attempted to shoot a robbery suspect. Authorities say 2-year-old old
Daniel Crichton was shot in the arm and upper torso on Friday after a
suspected bank robber forced his way into the car in which the toddler
was seated. The child's mother, Joann Cooper, was hit once in the
foot. A 7-year-old girl also in the car was not injured. The suspect
was killed but has not been identified. Five officers with the
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office fired a total of 42 rounds at the
vehicle. The gunman did not discharge his weapon. (Rule Four: Always
be sure of your target and what's beyond it. Having said that, this
does not appear to have been the more common scenario of firing at a
fleeing vehicle but one of attempting to rescue innocent hostages. In
either case, it appears to have been a poor gamble.)
Tucson Trap and Skeet Club Recognized: Late February, and the parking
lot is jammed with cars and RVs, some from as far away as
Saskatchewan. It's time for the annual Satellite Spring Grand American
at the Tucson Trap & Skeet Club. Before the weeklong event is over,
more than 1,000 participants from all over the United States, Canada
and Mexico will have aimed their shotguns at clay targets flying
through the air. Repeatedly. "We threw 903,000 targets during the
event," club Treasurer Michael Braegelmann says. "It's our biggest
event." But far from the only one… Yet most Tucsonans, including yours
truly - at least until recently - are unaware of its existence. "We're
the best-kept secret in Tucson," says Tom Moore, a member since 1961.
The club began in 1948 on 40 donated acres at the southwest corner of
East 22nd Street and South Pantano Road…
http://www.azstarnet.com/news/local/article_dc0d08e5-0705-546f-adb4-b9d27d188df5.html
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There's a Reason God Put Those People on an Island: Mr Furze, 30,
displayed his modified his scooter, with an anti-tailgating flame
thrower operated by the flick of switch, in the press earlier this
week. But Lincolnshire Police spotted the pictures of Mr Furze
allegedly riding his scooter on a public highway – and arrested him on
Thursday. He was held on suspicion of possessing an object converted
into a firearm, and was released on unconditional police bail without
charge until May 6 pending further police investigation. Possession of
a firearm carries a maximum prison sentence of five to seven years at
Crown Court. Mr Furze, from Stamford, Lincolnshire, declined to
comment. Speaking before his arrest, he said: ''Everybody wants a
flame thrower on a motor bike. I don't need a flame thrower on the
back of my bike, I'm not going to set fire to people's car's, it's
just something interesting to do.'' The scooter, which was built
before Christmas, was Mr Furze's third attempt at the project after
the first did not ignite and the second burst into flames… (A photo is
posted with the linked article.)
NRA-ILA Alerts: List members are encouraged to check the alerts for
the past week, posted on the NRA-ILA website. (I usually include this
reminder on the weekend but the alert arrived late yesterday and I
count on it as my reminder.)
