ATF is Seizing Toy Guns

koinlocal6.com reports that

A local business owner is flabbergasted after a shipment of 30 toy guns for his store was confiscated by ATF agents in Tacoma.

Original report here.

Airsoft Outlet Northwest has some additional commentary here.

There may be a method to this madness. Do not forget that airsoft toys are used in force-on-force exercises which, I've been told, make the training more realistic. If true, then training with airsoft toys improves a citizen's chances of survival in certain deadly force encounters.

So which do you think the BATFEces want to go up against: A citzen with delusions of being Rambo or one with a more realistic attitude about gunfighting?

Hat tip to David Codrea

Not a Threat but a Prediction

First read, "Yeah, but what does that Three Percent thing MEAN?"

Then read this commentary that asks, "Where AM I?"

Do you get it yet?

The Puritans Are at it Again

In the middle of the worst depression since the 1930's, the California Legislature has decided that cuss words are an vitally important issue.

The state Assembly passed a resolution Thursday that would establish the first week of March as "Cuss Free Week" throughout the state. If approved by the Senate next week, the measure would take effect immediately.

The resolution includes no enforcement mechanism and is simply meant to promote greater harmony and connectedness, said Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, a Democrat from La Canada Flintridge and co-author of the measure.

Read the rest at Fox News

After witnessing years of deficits and the massive debt load created, I concluded there is very little intelligence life in the California Legislature. None if which seems to leak into whatever the majority happens to be at any given time.

F**king Puritans.

Billy Beck, of course, has an appropiate response

That'll be the day: when I respect any resolution of civility from a goddamned felon-in-waiting.

So does Rick O'Connell (From "The Mummy"):

Evelyn: You were actually at Hamunaptra?
Rick: Yeah, I was there.
Evelyn: You swear?
Rick: Every damn day.

To Keep and Bear Arms

Tom Palmer, one of the plaintiffs in the partially successful District of Columbia v. Heller (554 U.S. 2008), is now trying to sue the District of Columbia to force it to respect the other part of the Second Amendment. Heller partially established the right to own (keep) a gun now the fight is carry (bear) that gun outside the home.

Predictably,

Jonathan E. Lowy, a lawyer with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, says he thinks the case, pending in U.S. District Court, is open and shut.

"To force the general public to be exposed to the risk of loaded guns when they are out with their family in public areas is outrageous and has absolutely nothing to do with the right to defend the home," he says.

Alan Gura, who was counsel in the Heller case and this case as well, simply replies, "The idea that the right to bear arms is limited to walking around your house is silly."

Yes it is silly. I wish him luck.

So-called Conservative Supports Gun Confiscation

David Codrea discusses an assertion Bill O'Reilly made during his interview of Stewart Rhodes of Oath Keepers. O'Reilly apparently claimed the Constitution is no impediment to disarming peaceable citizens during "emergencies".

Asking Rhodes why it is legitimate for Oath Keepers to even discuss government disarming Americans, Rhodes properly cited exactly that happening in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. When O'Reilly brought up a state of emergency, Rhodes shot back by challenging him to show "where...it say[s] in the Constitution that bad weather suspends the Constitution."

"It's not a matter of bad weather," O'Reilly replied. "It's a matter of can't control the city.

Read the whole thing. O'Reilly just plain doesn't get it.

Open Letter to Law Enforcement

Mike Vanderboegh over at Sipsey Steet Irregulars has written a very good appeal to American Law Enforcement entitled “Choose this day whom you will serve.”: An Open Letter to American Law Enforcement.

 Read it.  Spread it around.

Frankly I don't think it will do much good because the overwhelming majority of LEOs will drink whatever Kool Aid they must to keep getting the King's gold.  However, honor demands that something like this be tried and, just maybe, a few LEOs will remember what it means to take an oath.

There is No Right to Secede

Or so (allegedly) sayeth Justice Antonin Scalia.

Eric Turkewitz relates how his brother, a screenwriter, wrote the the Supreme Courts Justices -- including the departing O'Conner -- and asking about the question of secession. Of the ten, only Scalia responded saying,

I am afraid I cannot be of much help with your problem, principally because I cannot imagine that such a question could ever reach the Supreme Court. To begin with, the answer is clear. If there was any constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to secede. (Hence, in the Pledge of Allegiance, "one Nation, indivisible.") Secondly, I find it difficult to envision who the parties to this lawsuit might be. Is the State suing the United States for a declaratory judgment? But the United States cannot be sued without its consent, and it has not consented to this sort of suit.

I am sure that poetic license can overcome all that -- but you do not need legal advice for that. Good luck with your screenplay.

I hope most people who contemplate secession understand the above already and accept that., for better or worse, the question of secession will be settled as it was in 1776 and again in 1865. By force.

Is the Black Market Evolving?

Interesting topic over at Global Guerillas entitled Open Source Networks and Heroin.  One time sugar cane farmers from Xalisco, Mexico have become heroin dealers.  However, instead of a top down, violent organization like the cartels, these seller operate on a loose network dynamic and build their individual businesses by competing on quality, price and customer service.

They even deliver.

It's ironic that as the socialist control freaks in Washington prepare to march across the ruins of our civilization, the feudal structure that has dominated the drug trade for decades may be giving way to a market that rewards entrepreneurial spirit more than a willingness to use violence.

Link to LA Time article.

Prepare for Martial law; Go to Jail.

 Over at the LRC Blog, William Grigg post an article about a man whose firearms were confiscated apparently because his wife reported he believed that martial law was imminent.

Since it is unacceptable for people to believe that government agents will carry out paramilitary raids to confiscate firearms, a paramilitary force was sent to Girard’s home to confiscate his firearms.

Damn!  I guess I'd better buy La Esposa a box of candy for Valentine's Day.

Permafrost

Billy Beck nails the real cause of the malaise that is destroying America in "Permafrost"

It mystifies a thinking man: how does anyone believe that it can be resurrected through what the chattering Right has in mind? To hear these simple people swoon over electoral prospects regularly into the future as far as the eye can see is to know truly pathetic and tragic times. They think that freedom consists in choosing their own masters.

and

This will never be voted away, and the idea that there is something valuable afoot in this threadbare charade in Massachusetts is as appalling a thing as anyone ever knew.

...to understand that the snow will never melt in your remaining lifetime.

Read the whole thing. It's short.

Few commentators in the Blogosphere -- or anywhere else for that matter -- have the depth of knowledge and understanding of the ultimate importance of principles as Billy Beck. Even fewer are as unabashed about saying so. It may embarrass him for me to say this but the man is a treasure.

Not Quite an Answer

Doctor Zero has an interesting essay entitled The Answer to Socialism.  He makes many good points but I think he ignores the very important fact that socialism appeals across the conventional Left/Right political spectrum.

I suspect that those who admire any aspect of socialism do so because they are in one of the beneficiary classes.  Even the conservative taxpayer supports socialism as far as things like roads, fire departments, garbage collection and police are concerned.  Any attempt to unseat socialism's hold on people's minds must eventually deal with that.

More Zero Tolerance Madness

It's sad that these incidents are becoming so commonplace that people hardly notice them anymore.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A Portland school has suspended an 8-year-old boy after he was found to have a 4-inch plastic toy gun built for an action figure, KPTV-TV in Portland, Ore., reported.

The third-grade student at Duniway Elementary School received a one-day suspension. Aron Anderson, the boy's father, said his son forgot he had the toy in his pocket after playing with it the previous night.

More here

Not a gun. Not even a toy gun. Merely a tiny bit of plastic that looks like a toy gun for a doll.

The district, instead of agitating for some sanity and intelligence, predictably closes ranks and protects it's own bureaucracy.

The region administrator for the school sent Anderson a letter that said the district intends to uphold the principal's decision.

Zero tolerance has become the modern Puritanism. Best defined, I think, by H.L. Mencken as, "The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy."

Even the Liberals Know Obama Was Lying

In his unique and brilliant style, Vin Suprynowicz analyzes the State of the Union address. He can tell it was pack of lies because of the total silence from those who would be outraged if they believed Obama was telling the truth.

For instance, the president said, according to the White House’s prepared transcript: “We should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system — to secure our borders, enforce our laws, and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation.

Gee that sounds good doesn't it? So where are the screams of protest from the pro-illegal immigration groups?

Did you see any headlines in the days following the president’s speech, reporting “Immigration advocates” (meaning “Illegal Immigration advocates,” of course ) “express outrage at border-sealing initiative / La Raza and ACLU file lawsuit against deadly land-mine plan?”

Of course not. No one responded as though the president meant it — or even bothered to ask if he meant it — because they all knew he was lying, mouthing tested but blatantly untrue things merely to assuage those rubes out there in the sticks.

The media, as usual, was completely bamboozled too:

But no reporter even checked back to see when he plans to start; no radical group in favor of the reconquest of Aztlan bothered to voice a protest and file a lawsuit seeking an injunction against the coming round-ups and mass deportations. Why? Because they all know Mr. Obama was lying up a storm.

The tried and true method of determining if a politician is lying involves direct observation:  If his (or her) lip are moving he (or she) is lying.  With his State of the Union Address, Mr Obama has added a new way of making that critical determination: Observe the reaction of those who would normally be outraged if they believed what the politician was saying.

Driving Resilience By Building Networks

John Robb sometime goes off into some wild speculation but I generally find his analysis of trends to be pretty accurate.  He's gone beyond "fourth generation" warfare and tries to envision communities that are less likely to be hurt by disruptions outside the control of the individuals within the communities.

The idea of the resilient community clearly resonates.  It makes a great deal of sense to many people and there a lots of efforts underway at transition.  However, as always, the big question is: will these efforts be sufficient to make the transition before it becomes a necessity?  

I'm not convinced they will be given historical precedent.  So, the question then becomes:  how do we improve our chances of building resilience?  That's the question I've been grappling with for years and I think I've found the outlines of the answer.

More at Global Guerrillas

Good News from India

Looks like Indians are becoming aware of the need for self defense.

In the land of Mahatma Gandhi, Indian gun owners are coming out of the shadows for the first time to mobilize, U.S.-style, against proposed new curbs on bearing arms.

When gunmen attacked 10 sites in Mumbai in November 2008, including two five-star hotels and a train station, Mumbai resident Kumar Verma sat at home glued to the television, feeling outraged and unsafe.

Before the end of December, Verma and his friends had applied for gun licenses. He read up on India's gun laws and joined the Web forum Indians for Guns. When he got his license seven months later, he bought a black, secondhand, snub-nose Smith & Wesson revolver with a walnut grip.

More here: New groups mobilize as Indians embrace the right to bear arms

Principles Matter

At the War on Guns David Codrea references a comment to his latest Examiner Column

Alfaross - Why does anyone need a gun? Get them out of every society. Anybody who thinks that you need a gun for protection should wake up to themselves and look at how many people are killed by guns. There is something seriously wrong with humanity.

Debunking this foolishness is shooting fish in barrel for anyone with a reasonable knowledge of reality and the history of gun control. However, I doubt a reasoned argument will ever change Alfaross' mind.

When a person has wildly different principles there is little profit in discussing his conclusions with him. He sees the same evidence but, just as each of us does, he interprets it through his personal world view.

It's like the story of the paleontologist who finds a brand new fossil with characteristics of two closely related genera. When he publishes his finding, the evolutionary biologist sees a exciting new transitional fossil; the creationist looks at it and sees two more gaps in the fossil record.