With Gun Metaphors Like These . . . Part Two

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March 1, 2010

CNN reports that the rule of law is breaking down in Chile, as the government struggles to restore basic services after a massive earthquake and the resulting tsunami. “Looting broke out in parts of the country Sunday. Desperate residents scrounged for water and supplies inside empty and damaged supermarkets. Authorities used tear gas and water cannons to disperse looters. Chilean President-elect Sebastian Piñera, set to be sworn in this month, warned looting could grow worse and called for more government help in restoring order. “We will experience a very, very difficult situation with public order, particularly in the area of Concepcion,” Piñera told Radio Bio Bio. Americans who bristled at gun confiscations in post-Katrina New Orleans will be saying “see?” on this one. To wit . . .

Former IRS Agent Hearts Shotguns

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March 1, 2010

Kentucky’s amnews.com profile Bill Elliott, an IRS agent/tax collector turned tax adviser. Clearly, Elliott knows the value of firepower. In fact it helped start his career. Huh.

Elliott talks about the government career he had for 36 years and the private career he has had for the last few years with equal enthusiasm. Both come from the same “fascination.”

“I had a Sunday school teacher who was a revenuer with the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms), and one of his jobs was cracking down on moonshiners,” he says. “He was a little guy, and I wondered how he could handle men much larger than him, especially angry ones that were breaking the law.”

While visiting his Sunday schoolteacher’s home one day, Elliott got his answer.

“He said he didn’t carry any revolvers with him,” he says. “He then pulled out a sawed-off shotgun and said, ‘This is the only weapon I packed, and it usually got me instant cooperation.’”

From that time on, Elliott was “totally fascinated” with careers that would involve some kind of public service and at least an element of law enforcement.

But wait! There’s more!

That Didn’t Take Long: Tea Party “Debate” Focuses on Guns

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March 1, 2010

Counterpunch columnist Christopher Ketchum confounds critics with an anti-Tea Party polemic that attempts to wrest Second Amendment rights from the protest group’s agenda—while continuing the media meme that they’re all trigger-happy madmen (and women). It is a short but truly a remarkable piece of writing. “One of the reasons that I own pistols and shotguns and an assault rifle with a banana clip – other than the fact that guns are noisy and violent and fun to shoot, and banana clips look pretty good in the mirror – is to make sure that desperate and deranged people such as those in the Tea Party movement are not the only ones who are armed. Such people tend to do dumb things with their guns – like shoot at cops. Or family members. In its ignorance and hysteria and its almost unbelievable hypocrisy, however, the Tea Party movement will likely only harm its own adherents, by wasting their time as laughingstocks.” IGW. Ketchum uses the “n” word, as well. “How could a nigger Democrat be running our tyranny? Wake up, people! And that, in a nutshell, is the genesis of the Tea Party movement.” So the big government protesters are racist trigger-happy madmen (and women). That’s some heavy shit Chris, but I gotta say: we saw it coming.

TWHN BS: Bring a Rifle to A Shotgun Fight Edition

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March 1, 2010

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According to the Wichita Eagle, the local police wants to trade shotguns for rifles in patrol cars. It seems some members of the Kansas law enforcement fraternity are feeling out-gunned. “It used to be that if you had an active-shooter situation, you’d call in SWAT and set up a perimeter, and then move in,” Sedgwick County Sheriff Robert Hinshaw told the Eagle. “But Columbine and other school shootings, other spree shootings, showed you can’t afford to wait. The sooner you can mount a response to that, the more lives that are saved and the sooner you can bring it to a resolution. We can’t just send people into harm’s way without having the right tools.” And a rifle’s a better weapon for a cop than a shotgun because . . . “it’s more accurate and has a much longer range.” Whoa there Sheriff! What about the good folks on the other side of that perp? You know, AFTER the bullet pierces his person? “You’re going to have some issues,” Wichita Police Chief Norman Williams cautioned. “That may have some deadly consequences for an innocent person.” Ya think? He thinks. “It’s one thing to be able to pick up a shotgun,” Williams said. “It’s a whole different ball game to pick up a rifle.” Truer words have never been spoken. You know, since last time.

Marines Mount Mini-Gun on MV-22 Tilt Rotor Transports

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March 1, 2010

After a decade of dithering, the U.S. Marines are equipping two tilt-rotor transport aircraft bound for Afghanistan with the GAU-2B machine-gun. Strategypage.com reports that the Marines will retro-fit the guns to the rest of their Afghan-based fleet of MV-22 aircraft. Just in case you have no idea what this all means—save the fact that this is another sign that the U.S. military are relying on overwhelming force to defeat the Taliban—here’s some tech talk to keep you distracted. “The GAU-2B is a remote control turret using a six-barrel 7.62mm machine-gun. This system has a rate of fire of 3,000 rounds per minute (50 per second), and max range of 1,500 meters. The system weighs a few hundred pounds and includes 4,000 rounds of ammo.” But don’t worry that the Marines are getting too feisty with it. “The machine-gun turret is mainly there for protection from local threats, not for turning the V-22 into an assault aircraft. The marines also plan to mount an M-2 12.7mm machine-gun on the rear ramp as well.” To paraphrase Winston Churchill, if you’re going in that direction, keep going.

Browning: High End Sporting Gun Market Dead in the Water

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March 1, 2010

Browning PR manager Scott Grange tells TTAG that the high-end sporting gun market has rolled over and died. “Over-and-under guns that cost over eight thousand dollars are not selling, period.” Good thing, then, that Browning doesn’t sell firearms aimed at the top end of the market. Bad thing that they don’t make assault rifles, though. According to Grange, ARs and other assault weapons were the prime beneficiaries of the “panic buying” proceeding the arrival of the Obama administration. While Grange reports that the “black gun business” is still strong, demand has leveled off. Meanwhile, over in his proverbial neck of the metaphorical woods, the sporting gun business “did not do well” during the economic downturn and “still isn’t where it was. Not by a long shot.” In fact, the assault rifle surge has hurt sporting gun sales where it hurts . . .

Canadian Columnist Slams Second Amendment

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March 1, 2010

“The Queen is the symbolic head of Canada and the Commonwealth. She has exactly zero power. I, too, am a citizen but I regard myself as more free than you because I don’t need to own a gun to feel safe. I am well steeped in world history, in contradistinction to most Americans (sounds like you fit the bill) who believe they are the centre of the universe.” Holy Neighbour to the North Batman! Does Canadian columnist Daniel Johnson of the Salem-News.com have a chip on his shoulder or what? Nasty ass nationalism aside, Mr. Johnson’s editorial Socrates’ Gun offers excellent insights into the mindset of those who oppose armed civilians. For students of rhetorical combat, Mr. Johnson also provides a textbook example of the technique called reductio ad absurdum. Make the jump to see the psychology of gun control, and one of the best anti-gun control comments ever written . . .

Minnesota: Let Them Eat Crow

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March 1, 2010

Minnesota’s Startribune.com reminds us that today marks the start of crow hunting season. The author making the announcement is full of shit. Well, he was covered with it; as a boy; hunting crows. “In late winter when the first migrating crows would arrive from the South, they often gathered in fields where farmers had spread a winter’s worth of manure,” Bill Marchel writes. “There the hungry crows would find undigested corn and other scrumptious items to feed on. Often the manure fields were large, flat and featureless, with no cover in which to hide or build blinds. But if the snow was deep and the farmer had recently made a pass pulling his spreader behind, the big tractor tires formed trenches. First we’d put out a dozen-or-so decoys near the tractor tire trenches, usually in the pre-dawn after having scouted the location the day prior. Then we would snuggle into a trench like a cadaver in a coffin so that our torsos were below snow-top level.” Ah the power of the pen. Then the shotgun. Oh, and don’t worry too much about the time limits. “Crows may be taken without a license in season or at any time when they are doing or are about to do damage” As if.

Hollywood Loves Guns—Just Not Yours

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March 1, 2010

Arizona Daily Sun: Open Carry Means “Arming a bunch of amateur civilians in place of passing gun laws”

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February 28, 2010

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The internets are abuzz re: this morning’s Frank Rich editorial: Axis of the Obsessed and Deranged. The New York Times’ liberal extremist builds on a previous Sunday magazine piece painting the Tea Party movement as a bunch of loons. Rich launches a dietribe [sic] linking the populist protest with terrorists and, well, deranged people. The only thing missing from Mr. Rich’s viscous and unfounded smearicle: a link to the movement’s belief in Second Amendment rights. Maybe that’s because his boss, publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., has a concealed carry permit. Or maybe Mr. Rich knows there is a pale beyond which he shouldn’t go. Nah. It’s coming. Meanwhile, the Arizona Sun’s editorial board has got its proverbial knickers in a twist re: the state’s move towards “Open Carry” gun laws (whereby legal citizens can carry firearms without a special licensing procedure). Here’s the headline again, complete with self-righteous rhetorical flourish: “Arming a bunch of amateur civilians in place of passing gun laws with teeth sends up the white flag of surrender in the battle for a civil society governed by laws, not force.” That’s how it ends, of course. Here’s how it starts . . .

Gun Bribes Highlight Afghan Corruption

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February 28, 2010

And it’s one, two, three, what are we fighting for? Don’t ask me I don’t give a damn. I’m going to Afghanistan. A country whose rigged elections and endemic corruption was the focus of the Obama Administration’s pre-surge anxiety—until it wasn’t. And now it is. Well, for the western media. OK, for a few news organizations. The Guardian, actually. Which reveals that Afghan Prime Minister Nour “Sneaky” Maliki is trading weapons and cash for votes in the run-up to the next round of democratic, free and fair nationwide elections. “Maliki, who faces a bitterly contested final week of campaigning ahead of the 7 March poll, has been photographed handing out guns to supporters in southern Iraq, engraved with a personal message from his office. However he denies that the delivery of weapons, along with cash payments, were improper.” Perhaps “unusual” was the word he was looking for. Is this a problem? Surprisingly enough, yes. Make the jump for a look at the source of Maliki largess. As if you couldn’t guess . . .