Loughner & Gun Control

Jared Loughner allegedly shot 20 individuals, including his apparent target Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), at a Tucson meet-and-greet. I will refrain from blaming the rhetoric of Sarah Palin or labelling Loughner a rightwing loon at this point. Loughner's motives are not the subject here, "gun control" is.

As could easily be suspected, liberals are using the shooting as a rallying cry to limit gun ownership. Just look at Huffington Post and how anti-gun sentiment is rampant. Articles such as "Only One Fact in Arizona: Loughner Got a Gun" or "Americans Favor Semi-Automatic Weapons Ban..." are pushing for more limits to gun ownership, especially since Loughner apparently purchased his weapon legally.

After a murderous shooting attack, the media likes to immediately begin defining sanity and defining the assailant as insane. This is an attempt to negate extralegal political action as well as label the act as isolated. If we cannot look at reasons why, we tend to only look to how. How is a gun. Another thing that really annoys me is liberals' constant use of "semi-automatic" as a scare tactic. Do these people even know what a semi-automatic weapon is. It is a firearm which automatically reloads, but will only fire one round per trigger pull. That's all. Nothing scary. Give me a break!

This attack cannot be used to further limit people from having guns. As a matter of fact, I read one pro-gun blog that posed the question of how this Arizona attack might not have been carried out to the extent it was if the people present had been armed. (Of course, if people aren't armed in Arizona, I don't know where they would be.)

We must engage people we hear talking about "gun control" as a solution. It isn't a solution and an unarmed populace is far scarier.

Flying with a Firearm

Traveling by air with a firearm sounds like it might be tricky even if it shouldn't be. Here is my account of traveling from Oakland,CA to Casper, WY with my AR-15. Hopefully it will help anyone thinking of making a similar trip and encourage others to travel WITH firearms. It is perfectly legal to check a firearm when traveling by airlines. I had read over the minimal regulations made available by Transportation Security Administration (TSA), my airline (Delta), and Oakland Airport. They all said the same thing which I encourage you to read but which can be boiled down to 1)it must be unloaded and 2)it must be in a locked case. It seemed way too easy so I also checked with a coworker who has traveled with a rifle to hunt on the east coast. He assured me it was, in fact, just that simple and that he was never hassled.

I bought a Pelican Stormcase just for the trip. These are hard cases and maybe a little more fancy than needed but I wanted to be safe with regulations as well as keep my gun safe from any rough handling. Also in the case were two empty CA legal 10round magazines. The case has 6 clasps and at least four holes which could be fitted with locks. I locked the case with one key-lockable padlock.

We arrived at Oakland airport with what should have been ample time to get boarding passes (we had already checked in online) and make it to our gate. We got in the "special check-in" line. A delta staff member checked with us to see if we really needed to be in the special line. I explained I had a firearm and the staff member said "Oh! Ok. You definitely need to be in that line." When it was our turn, the Delta counter clerk checked in my travel companion but when she found out I had a firearm to check, she literally told me someone else would have to help me. She instructed me to just stand to the side. She told another clerk that I needed to check a gun and she left. I patiently waited for over 15 minutes. Finally, I was motioned over to the counter and the clerk rudely said "So you have a gun? How are we supposed to do this?!" She proceeded to have me sign the unloaded firearm declaration and then told me we needed to go to the TSA booth across from the Delta counter. As we approached the TSA booth, this clerk asked if the case was locked. I said yes. She said the one lock wasn't going to be sufficient. Trying to remain polite and calm, I mentioned that the regulations make no mention of multiple locks. She rudely passed me over to TSA pointing out that I only had one lock. The TSA officials asked me to unlock the case. I did. The TSA agents wiped the case for explosives, checked to make sure it was not loaded, and closed the case. They asked me to lock it. I did and they began trying to pry it open while locked (which they could not). They called over another TSA supervisor. She looked at it while they tried to pry open the locked case and told me one lock would not be sufficient. Alarmed, I asked what I was supposed to do. I was instructed to go to the nearby airport giftshop and purchase another lock. I ran to the shop and bought the only locks they had- a 2 pack of combination locks. Then I ran back to the TSA booth. I put a total of three locks on my case to appease Oakland TSA. They then told me I was free to go but I told them I was never issued a boarding pass. Apparently, the check-in clerk must verify with TSA that all is sufficient before issuing a boarding pass. So I had to go get the rude Delta clerk again. She gave me my boarding pass and told me I had better hurry to my gate. No kidding! I ran to my gate. The whole process took approximately 45 minutes. Upon landing in Casper, WY, it was humorous to see so many rifle cases come out of the luggage carousel.

The return leg of my trip was unsurprisingly very different. Casper airport, to be fair, is far less crowded. The Delta staff there were not bothered by my having to check a firearm. I am sure it is something they have done a million times (50 times by noon of that day alone according to a TSA official). The Delta clerk calmly gave me clear instructions to unlock the case and had me sign the unloaded declaration. I was then instructed to take it over to the TSA area. The TSA agent was not busy and asked me to relock the case. I did. He took it and told me to wait for a sec in case they have any questions or need to unlock it again. I stood in place for about one minute and the agent gave me a good-bye thumbs up.

An interesting thing to note upon my return to Oakland airport- While waiting for baggage at the baggage claim carousel, I saw the "oversized luggage" door slide up only about three feet. A pair of hands tossed in my rifle case. The sliding door closed. There sat my rifle on the floor of Oakland airport unattended.

Third Lawsuit Filed Against AB 962

Truckers and gun owner groups file lawsuit against California to void handgun ammunition shipping ban

AB-962 Pre-empted By Federal Laws That Regulate Interstate Shipping

READ MORE HERE

No Police? Arm up, people!

Despite a lot of this article being crap, it does point out that Oakland should not rely on police and should arm themselves.

"Be very careful, be vigilant, get in touch with your neighbors, because we're going to have to look after each other."

I don't even think folks in Oakland are aware of this attention or their being used as an example.

Piece Now, Peace Later

Piece Now, Peace Later: An Anarchist Introduction to Firearms is available online in pdf form.

Nerf Guns

I posted previously about Nerf's toy guns based on real guns. Recently Gizmodo did a similar piece.

So This Is What Nerf Guns Are Like Now, Huh?

"The next amendment is,'A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.' One of the ordinary modes, by which tyrants accomplish their purposes without resistance, is, by disarming the people, and making it an offence to keep arms, and by substituting a regular army in the stead of a resort to the militia. The friends of a free government cannot be too watchful, to overcome the dangerous tendency of the public mind to sacrifice, for the sake of mere private convenience, this powerful check upon the designs of ambitious men.

The importance of this article will scarcely be doubted by any persons, who have duly reflected upon the subject. The militia is the natural defence of a country against sudden foreign invasions, domestic insurrections, and domestic usurpations of power by rulers. It is against sound policy for a free people to keep up large military establishments and standing armies in time of peace, both from the enormous expenses, with they are attended, and the facile means, which they afford to ambitious and unprincipled rulers, to subvert the government, or trample upon the rights of the people. The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms had justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpations and arbitrary power of rulers; and it will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them. And yet, though this truth would seem so clear, and the importance of a well-regulated militia would seem so undeniable, it cannot be disguised, that among the American people there is a growing indifference to any system of militia discipline, and a strong disposition, from a sense of its burdens, to be rid of all regulations. How it is practicable to keep the people duly armed without some organization, it is difficult to see. There is certainly no small danger, that indifference may lead to disgust, and disgust to contempt; and thus gradually undermine all the protection intended by this clause of our National Bill of Rights."

- Joseph Story, "A Familiar Exposition of The Constitution of the United States", paragraphs 450 and 451 (1840)

from SurvivalBlog