Jan 162013
 

Obama signed 23 executive orders today. Various news sources have reported that fact, but don’t generally seem too interested in describing those orders. Most seem to be pretty meaningless political theater. (NOTE: a few could, with some minimal effort, be problematic… #4, #7, #15)

Here’s the list:

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.

2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.

3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.

4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.

5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.

6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.

7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.

8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).

9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.

10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.

11. Nominate an ATF director.

12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.

13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.

14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.

15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.

16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.

17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.

18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.

19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.

20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.

21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.

22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.

23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.

 Posted by at 12:56 pm
Jan 152013
 

New York Gun Legislation

Page 22:

6 § 265.01-b Criminal possession of a firearm.

7 A person is guilty of criminal possession of a firearm when he or she:
8 (1) possesses any firearm or; (2) lawfully possesses a firearm prior to
9 the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand thirteen
10 which added this section subject to the registration requirements of
11 subdivision sixteen-a of section 400.00 of this chapter and knowingly
12 fails to register such firearm pursuant to such subdivision.

Let me post that text again:

A person is guilty of criminal possession of a firearm when he or she possesses any firearm

Ummm… Am I reading this right????

 Posted by at 11:27 pm
Jan 152013
 

NY seals 1st state gun laws since Newtown massacre

Some lowlights from New Yorks new law:

  • An “assault rifle” is now any rifle with a pistol grip
  • Magazines are now restricted to *seven* rounds
  • If you have an 8-round magazine, you have one year to sell it out of state
  • You will be arrested if you have an 8-or-more round magazine
  • Background checks for buying ammo
  • “It is well-balanced, it protects the Second Amendment,” said Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos of Long Island.

 Posted by at 10:27 am
Jan 072013
 

Member of Biden’s Gun Control Task Force Has a Son Convicted of Planning School Mass Murder

President of the National Assocation of Police Officers and Boston Police Officer Thomas Nee is a member of Vice President Joe Biden’s gun control task force… Nee’s son, Joseph Nee, was convicted in 2008 for planning to commit mass murder of students and teachers at Marshfield High School in Massachusetts…

Huh. I have no idea about Nee’s views on gun ownership, though I can guess. But regardless, he seems an odd choice… I keep hearing Leonard Nimoy muttering something about being “emotionally compromised.” What are the chances that Nee places the blame for what almost happened on his lax parenting and/or his whackjob kid? As opposed to blaming the guns or video games or some such?

 Posted by at 6:19 pm
Jan 012013
 

Oh, California, how I don’t miss you so.

A little while ago, some California citizens subjects decided to go out and about openly carrying firearms. Keep in mind: this was legal. Plus, they were not *brandishing* their weapons; they were not knocking over gas stations; they were being in no way threatening; they were just going about their day openly armed (kinda… they didn’t actually have any bullets in the guns, which makes ’em little more than really expensive clubs).

So, what did the California state legislature do? They made it illegal to openly carry long guns.

This is perhaps a good test of whether or not you live in a free society: if you are allowed to do something only so long as you don’t actually do it… you’re not in a free society. But hey, as sort of a compromise the state legislature also raised taxes and has decided that illegal aliens should get taxpayer-funded in-state tuition breaks. Pretty great, right?

Times like this, I’m glad there’s a bloody great deadly desert (called “Nevada”) between California and Utah.

 Posted by at 3:21 pm
Jan 012013
 

… isn’t gravity. It’s lawyers.

“Spaceport America Could Become a Ghost Town”

In short: trial lawyers in New Mexico are using their lackeys in government to make sure than spacecraft manufacturers and their suppliers can be sued out of existence. They have succeeded in making sure that the laws in California favor the lawyers… and so surprise, surprise, space tourism companies are *leaving* California.

A lesson not only for the space advocacy crowd, but for anyone interested in having a functional economy of *any* kind. It’s about time to have a national conversation about common-sense trial lawyer control laws, don’t you think?

 Posted by at 1:45 pm
Dec 312012
 

If this article is accurate, it seems the British government has found a solution to dealing with the increasingly expensive problem of non-productive old folks consuming large sums on government-funded health care: kill ’em.

60,000 patients put on death pathway without being told but minister still says controversial end-of-life plan is ‘fantastic’

In short, it appears that the BritGov euthanizes around 60K people per year, in many/most cases without getting the patients consent first. This is of course a Very Bad Thing. But it is also very likely a Pretty Much Inevitable Thing. As birth rates decline and life expectancy increases, societies will have more and more people who have ceased to be productive members of society (i.e. no longer taxpayers), who are now consuming vast amounts of resources (being old and alive while sick in the government hospital is I guess a spendy proposition). Continue the trend lines out far enough and the few actual workers you have will have to pay more than 100% of their income as tax in order to pay all the medical bills being racked up by the giant hospitals jam-packed with pensioners. And the system will simply *have* to collapse.
To me there don’t really seem to be a whole lot of good and/or practical answers to this.
1) Carousel: everybody dies when they reach a specific age. Not going to be popular.
2) Robots: Japan is going through this trouble sooner than most due to their low birth rate, aging population and essentially zero immigration. So they’re hoping that robots will be able to care for their old folks. Whether the Japanese can develop effective robot-nurses faster than they generate old folks is a good question.
3) Deportation: Germany, shockingly enough, is leading the world in getting rid of large numbers of people by shipping them to other countries. What it seems they’re doing is shipping some of their elderly to eastern Europe and east Asia because the cost of care there is far cheaper than in Germany. This seems like a reasonable enough proposition… I’m sure at least some of the elderly are fine with the idea of leaving rather cold Germany for warm Thailand. Additionally, I’m sure the German old folks money spends a lot better in those places than back home; so not only do they get to live a lot better, but they also enrich the local economies. But this would seem only a partial solution, as those regions will themselves eventually catch up in the “generating old folks but not so many young folks” game.
4) Privatization: get the government out of the “paying for everything” business. While this will, in the long run, lead to overall healthier and more prosperous societies, it’ll also lead to some people living longer than others simply because they have more money. And while that is perfectly appropriate, there will be lots and lots of people who will raise a ruckus at the perceived unfairness of it that Rich Guy gets to live to 100, while Poor Guy only makes it to 85.
5) Near Death Star: This would of course be the ultimate and preferred solution… stockpile the pensioners on a vast artificial world, hooked up to life support systems and immersed within virtual worlds of their own choosing. But the technology ain’t quite there yet.
So: given a society that is aging fast, where the life expectancy continues to climb but retirement age doesn’t, where all the latest and most expensive medicines and medical techniques and technologies are *expected* to be employed for as long as possible, where the young are having fewer kids (in no small part because they can’t *afford* kids due to the high tax rates needed to provide for the elderly)… if anyone can come up with a truly practical solution, I’m sure we’d all love to read it.
 Posted by at 12:09 am
Dec 302012
 

The White House Petition Experiment will, I’m pretty sure, come to an end soon.

Eliminate armed guards for the President, Vice-President, and their families, and establish Gun Free Zones around them

Currently: 10,976

———-

Create ‘Gun Free Politician Zones’ for all politicians who support ‘Gun Free School Zones’ and strict gun control laws.

Currently: 5,931

———

Not INFRINGE upon 2nd Amendment rights by instituting any new form of firearms ban, legislation, or regulation.

Currently: 11,343

————–

Try Senator Dianne Feinstein in a Federal Court For Treason To The Constitution

Currently: 16,883

————

Impeach Sen. Diane Feinstein for violating her oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, re: AWB

Currently: 18,363

———-

Ban Dianne Feinstein.

Currently: 7,458

———–

To recognize the second amendment in accordance with the founding fathers original intentions.

Currently: 7,202

———-

Repeal Unconstitutional Gun Laws

Currently: 7,251

 Posted by at 7:25 pm
Dec 272012
 

Stopping the spread of deadly assault weapons

In January, Senator Feinstein will introduce a bill to stop the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition feeding devices.

  • Bans the sale, transfer, importation, or manufacturing of:
    • 120 specifically-named firearms;
    • Certain other semiautomatic rifles, handguns, shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and have one or more military characteristics; and
    • Semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds.
  • Strengthens the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and various state bans by:
    • Moving from a 2-characteristic test to a 1-characteristic test;
    • Eliminating the easy-to-remove bayonet mounts and flash suppressors from the characteristics test; and
    • Banning firearms with “thumbhole stocks” and “bullet buttons” to address attempts to “work around” prior bans.
  • Bans large-capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of accepting more than 10 rounds.
  • Protects legitimate hunters and the rights of existing gun owners by:
    • Grandfathering weapons legally possessed on the date of enactment;
    • Exempting over 900 specifically-named weapons used for hunting or sporting purposes; and
    • Exempting antique, manually-operated, and permanently disabled weapons.
  • Requires that grandfathered weapons be registered under the National Firearms Act, to include:
    • Background check of owner and any transferee;
    • Type and serial number of the firearm;
    • Positive identification, including photograph and fingerprint;
    • Certification from local law enforcement of identity and that possession would not violate State or local law; and
    • Dedicated funding for ATF to implement registration.
———————————–
Translation: BOHICA
Basically, it looks like:
1) Virtually All semi-automatic long guns are going to (attempt to) be banned
2) Existing long guns will be grandfathered, but you will be legally obligated to register the weapon and yourself with the authorities
3) *Standard* pistol magazines are to be similarly banned/grandfathered.
Note that this bill specifically goes after firearms with “one or more military characteristics.” Note that when the USSC said in the Miller case that it was Constitutional to ban sawed-off shotguns, it was Constitutional because such a shotguns *wasn’t* military, and that the purposed of the 2nd A was to make sure that guns appropriate for the militia were available (and that, somehow, a sawed-off shotgun had no military purpose). So Feinstein is going specifically after those guns that the 2nd Amendment was written to protect.
ADDITIONAL: I may be wrong, but I *think* “grandfathered weapons be registered under the National Firearms Act” means that your semi-auto plinker will now be a Class III firearm. This means that the moment you register it, you give up your 4th Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure. As anyone with a Class III firearm will attest, the BATF can show up at will, at any time and unannounced to the location where the firearm is registered and demand to see it, paperwork and storage accommodations, no warrant needed. Get ready to have agents of the government welcome themselves into your home for whatever reason they may dream up at a moments notice.
For the children.
 Posted by at 6:56 pm
Dec 212012
 

Here’s the Audio of the NY Gov. Talking Gun Control: ‘Confiscation Could Be an Option’

Where we hear New York Governor Cuomo discuss what to do about “assault weapons,” and suggest that confiscation is an option. With a new AWB, existing guns and magazines would not be grandfathered in… if you owned one, the State could compel you to turn it in to them.

Well, ok, hardly a surprise. However, keep in mind that the great majority of gun murders are carried out not with long guns, but with pistols. So it seems safe to say that a grab of handguns will also be considered. You know, “for the children.”

So what would an American stripped of legally owned firearms look like? Many people try to suggest comparisons to Europe, where they don’t murder each other at the same rate we do (until they fire up the long-range bombers and the death camps). But that’s not a good comparison… American ain’t Europe. Our cultures are quite different. A far better comparison would be to… America itself. There are places in the US where such bans on legal firearms have been in place for a long while. Take, for example, the shining gun-free city on the hill that is Chicago. Where we find:

446 school-age children shot so far this year – 62 actually murdered

As of Dec. 20, 518 homicides in Chicago

With a  population of about 2.7 million, that’s a murder rate of 19.2 per 100,000. Now, extend that to the whole US, with a population of 310,000,000. The new national murder total would be 59,474. Compare that with the current score of 16,799.

You can expect the murder rate in the US to go up by a factor of about three and a half. An extra 42,675 murdered folk thanks to a drive to have *fewer* murdered folk.

This is not entirely a silly little math exercise. If a nationwide gun-grab occurs, who will be disarmed? The law abiding, obviously. The criminals will not of course turn their guns in. Indeed, this would only embolden them… they still have their guns, while the citizenry victims do not. Now, the gun-grabbers might argue that over time, the guns would be removed from the criminals hands; and this is true; every time a gun breaks or is captured, it’s out of service, probably forever. But consider:

1) The border patrol cannot stop *bales* of weed from sneaking across the border. And weed, unlike guns & ammo, has a distinctive chemical trace that dogs & such can pick up on.

2) People can make guns in home shops now.

3) People will soon be able to simply *print* guns at home.

OK, the next claim will be that ammo will be just as strictly controlled, and will quickly run out. Well, sure… but see #1 above. And then there’s…

4) As technology advances the gun of tomorrow might not need ammo as it has been known. Gauss guns today are a bit of a joke; but they are improving. Hand-held lasers today are a bit of a joke; but they’re improving. And it’s certainly conceivable that the rapid prototypers of the year 2020 would be able to stamp out every single component needed for such weapons.

And of course, even without ranged weapons, criminals would have the upper hand over much of society. Have you seen them? Most of them are hardly reed-thin stick figures, barely capable of taking on Justin Bieber. No, a good fraction of them can break you in half. And when they do get caught and thrown in the pokey, what do we do with them? Give them exercise equipment, assuring that when they get out they’ll be even *worse.*

So, cast your eyes to Chicago if you want to see the future.

 Posted by at 2:35 pm