Build Your Own AR-15....In Your Kitchen?

Well, it's only the last 20%.  But still.

Making me wonder why our friends on the left obsess about the "gun show loophole."

Glass Test Dummy...

This is pretty rough.

I wonder if

1.  Those are full 7.62 x 39 mm, 123 gr AK shells.  That's a pretty high energy round to "test" with a live human
2.  The fact that the windshield is at quite an angle helps.  I know it helps, but I wonder if those same shells would still bounce off if their direction of travel were 90 degrees compared to the windshield surface.

Happiness?

If the Beatles were still together, they might sing, "Happiness is a 3D printed gun."  Or they might not.

But Cody Wilson has some interesting ideas.  It's not clear that the state can control the things it wants to control.

When Does It Become a Gun?

So, it's not a gun yet.  In fact, it's not a receiver yet.

But it could be.  And it's polymer, which won't show up as metal on a scanner.

Still, the bullets would show up, and so would most of the rest of the gun.  This is not really a legitimate seizure here.

Or is it?  I have to admit ATF is in kind of a tough spot here, trying to enforce a vague law.

How Would Jon Stewart Play This?

Jon Stewart might start with this quote:

"'We are locked in a struggle with powerful forces in this country who will do anything to destroy the Second Amendment,' said Richard Venola, a former editor of Guns & Ammo. 'The time for ceding some rational points is gone.'" [Quoted in NYT]

(Host looks into camera, with a "Here we go again" look)  I mean...that's just SUCH B.S.  They are trying to scare people.  The quote above comes from this story, where a guy got fired for even considering the possibility of regulating firearms ownership.  Nobody is "after" your gun rights, folks.

Then cut to:

"Movie producer Harvey Weinstein announced for the first time on Howard Stern’s radio show that he is making a full feature drama to try to destroy the National Rifle Association...'I shouldn’t say this, but I’ll tell it to you, Howard,' he said. 'I’m going to make a movie with Meryl Streep, and we’re going to take this head-on. And they’re going to wish they weren’t alive after I’m done with them.'" [Washington Times]

(Host stares into camera, struck dumb, mouth flapping...Big laughs all around!)

That actually sounds pretty rough.  Is ol' Harvey going to kill someone, or just make them want to kill themselves?

Two more points:

1.  The reason ol' Harvey W gets to make a "full feature" movie expressing his personal political views is that the "Citizens United" case was CORRECTLY DECIDED by the Supreme Court.  This is going to be a 2 hour political ad, one that costs millions of dollars to make.  And the money is going to come directly from corporate treasuries.  And none of it will have to be reported as a political contribution.  Because CU was CORRECTLY DECIDED.  I'm not sure why no one understands this.  The Citizens United movie about Hillary was protected political speech.  So is Harvey's piece of crap movie.  That's what the CU decision was about.

2.  My own view on guns are actually very close to those of Dick Metcalf.  The 2nd Amendment says "well-regulated," folks.  So, I may agree, on the merits, with a lot of what ol' Harvey W wants to say.  And I certainly want to defend his right to say it.

Bad Idea List

On the really bad idea list, this is fairly near the top.  Not sure it's real, of course, but if it is it's a bad idea.


Nod to Atila A.

Risk and Human Perception of Risk

I have a good friend who I met once in DC for a baseball game.  We were going to park near my hotel on Capitol Hill, and Metro to RFK where the Nats played back then (the new park opened in 2008).

My proposal was just to leave my bags in his car.  He insisted that I should check my bags at the hotel, because "Capitol Hill is so dangerous!"  Now, this was 2006, long after 9-11; Capitol Hill was NOT dangerous, at all, especially not during the day.

He brushed aside my protests.  "You don't live around here.  I'm always reading about crimes and violence in the paper."  I asked how he could read about NOT crimes and NOT violence in the paper, since those things are never there.  The fact is that the crime rate (robberies, assaults, burglaries, thefts) had fallen dramatically in the area, but that's not "news." (The comparison I was making is 2001 vs. 2006). 

Crimes and violence are news.  But no neighborhood in DC makes the top 25 "most dangerous" list.  Even though it's true "you always read about it."

More recently, I had a conversation with a staff person.  She says she never flies. I was sympathetic:  "Yes, the indignities of TSA and those cattle car planes are pretty bad."  She protested:  "No, that's not it.  I'm afraid of getting killed.  All you ever read about is all those crashes!"  Um....wow.  Yes, I suppose that's all you "read about."  Because "another 30,000 planes land safely" (the actual number of flights in the US each day) is not very newsworthy.  Flying is a ridiculously safe way to travel, compared to driving to work (which this woman does every day).

The fact is that the "epidemic" of school shootings is not an epidemic at all.  They are very infrequent, occur for essentially random causes, and are not even worth considering as a public policy problem.  Violence, deaths, injuries...almost any measure you can think has gotten much better, at the same time that we are obsessed with school shootings.

Would I be upset if my son, or someone I knew, were killed?  Of course.  Do I have the right to divert public policy discussions from real problems, like drunken driving or the insane war on drugs, because of a low-probability random accident less likely than a lightning strike?  Of course not.

A Good Guy with a Gun Stopped a Bad Guy with a Gun

So, the kid in Colorado bought a shotgun, and waited a pretty long time before going on his rampage.

None, yes, none of the proposed laws and restrictions on guns would have affected this at all.  No one has proposed that restrictions be placed on shotguns.  Obama himself was famously shown shooting one.  It was ridiculous, but that's the "safe" gun Mr. Obama wanted to be associated with.

What did work?  We all mocked the NRA's Wayne LaPierre for advocating an armed guard.  I did, too. It is not a great idea, and it's expensive.  But in this case, it worked. 

I still don't think that excuses the NRA's pigheadedness on perfectly plausible gun regulation.  I let my membership lapse, in fact, because the NRA is clearly trying to protect extremists and corporate stooges.  But in this case, you gotta say...LaPierre 1, Obama 0.

V for Vendetta, Gun-Phobia Edition

You may recall the scene from V for Vendetta where the government decides that, to increase its power, the citizens should be terrified.


Apparently the Democrats have decided to use the same tactic.  And they are good at it.  Here's the gun version of the approach.  Be....AFRAID!

James Taranto breaks it down pretty well...

Full Auto Gatling Slingshot

At least once a month, I realize anew how glad I am that Mr. Overwater invented the internet.

This month:  an insane German man standing outside in the snow, wearing a t-shirt, firing a homemade full auto Gatling slingshot.  The craftsmanship is beautiful.  A genuine work of art.


Clearly, you'll want to watch this also, the artillery version.  As he says, "the most amazing rubber-based weapon I have ever made."

Dissonance

Gay rights and gun rights linked.

Nearly everyone's head explodes.  Only libertarians recognize that these really ARE essentially the same issue.

One has to be amused at this response.  The writer literally cannot believe that someone might seriously support individual freedoms, as a matter of principle, rather than having memorized a series of contradictory "correct" positions on the left, or on the right.

I feel like Treebeard...

On guns and gun rights, I feel like Treebeard.  I am not entirely on anyone's side, because no one is entirely on my side.

An interesting post, linking to a piece I had not seen. 

The 2nd Amendment:  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.

So, "the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed" says clearly that there is in fact an individual right to own guns, not just that states can have militias that are "well-regulated."

But that whole "well-regulated" part means something.  So registration, background checks, responsible storage, and required training...why not?  I'd say the closest analogy is a driver's license.  You can't be told "no, no driver's license for you!"  It's a "shall issue" situation.  But if you misuse, behave dangerously, etc., you lose the license.  And you have to register your car, and have training, and so on.  The state can impose substantial regulations on purchase, ownership, and use of guns.

I'm pretty sure that exactly no one agrees with me.  The NRA-ites want to be able to fight the 82nd Airborne (seriously?), and the anti-gun-ites want to pretend the 2nd Amendment doesn't exist.  (Problem, my lefty friends:  as Sandy Levinson sensibly admits, if you can ignore the 2nd Amendment, you can ignore the 1st, 4th, and 5th Amendments.  They come as a package.)

How Florida can you GET?

This...this is the essence of Florida, folks.  At least, MY part of Florida, the idiot redneck part.

This Is Quite Possibly the Most Florida News Story Ever Written 

Not even The Onion could make up a more Florida story than the real-life misadventures of one William Daniel Lloyd, AKA Florida Man. 

The 31-year-old Gainesville resident, who has been in and out of mug shots for charges ranging from grand theft to drug possession to disorderly conduct, recently had a hankering for some dinner squirrel, so he tried to hunt one down with a BB gun. To improve his chances of taking the squirrel out cleanly, Lloyd decided to tape a bullet to the end of his Pumpmaster 760. 

Surprisingly, his MacGyver-esque troubleshooting backfired. Literally: Lloyd fired the BB gun, causing the BB to strike the cartridge's primer. The cartridge discharged and fragmented, striking Lloyd in the upper arm and lower leg. He was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. 

Lloyd was subsequently charged with discharging a firearm in public and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. He later told police he found the cartridge while looking for scrap metal to sell. As for the squirrel, one commenter suggested he probably died. Laughing, that is. 

Let's make sure you understand what he did.  He has a pump air gun, that shoots BBs (every man needs a "Pumpmaster 760," I'd say!).  He "finds" a bullet (maybe, maybe not.  He's a convicted felon, like pretty much everyone in my extended Florida family, like Dutch Boy and Jackie Blue.  So he can't have a bullet, legally).   (More after the jump)

Remy!

It takes a talking ass.  Jim Carrey suffers from an enlarged sense of entitlement.  Well, and a talking ass.

Do Guns Prevent Suicide?

Wow.  Talk about a moving target.  We hate guns because the level of violence is rising sharply.  (No, it isn't, it's falling sharply).  Oh....okay, we hate guns because they cause (CAUSE!) suicides.

My good friend Prof. Greene at NC State has a piece where he calls several remarkably illogical arguments "nice."

The problem is that the facts are these:

The total level of gun violence has fallen dramatically since 1980.  DRA.MA.TIC.ALLY.

If you remove suicides and drug crimes, in fact, the danger of gun violence is negligible.

A few highly over-sensationalized incidents have shoved the lefty elite into a hissy fit, with their little private high school boxers in tight knots.  So they shriek and yelp that "we" have to "do" "something" (yup, three different scare quote words).

To his credit, Prof. Greene does at least focus on suicides, where the data don't directly contradict his argument.

Except, wait...the data comparing national suicide rates DO directly contradict his argument.  If guns cause suicides, then one would expect the nations with the most guns to have the highest suicide rates, right?

Not so much.  In fact, the correlation between suicide rate and gun ownership is weakly INVERSE.  That's right, guns CURE suicide!  The US, with high gun ownership, has fewer suicides than the gun control icons of Austria, France, New Zealand, Belgium, Japan, and of course FAR below those happy gunless states of Russia and China. 

Now, I'll admit that naive correlations like that don't mean much, and I'm not serious.   Guns do NOT cure suicide. But surely that one means at least as much as the equally naive correlations being whooped up by the good Prof. Greene:  guns also do not CAUSE suicide, though it may be that a person contemplating suicide might use a gun if he has one.  Clearly it is NOT true that in South Korea people say, "I want to commit suicide, but I can't, because I don't have a gun!"

Claiming that taking guns away reduces suicides is at best a within-country measure, and there is no reason to believe the effect would be significant.

We Fear Unlikely Things, But Constantly Do Dangerous Things

The chances of a school being a target of gun violence are negligible, but we have marches and mass pestering about a non-existent threat.

But people take showers and drive cars every day.  Now, THOSE things are dangerous.

And Jared Diamond, to his credit, recognizes this.

It's fun to yammer about guns, precisely because it is a trivial risk.  We can show how much we care by being irrational.

Why Is the NRA So Powerful?

New video from Learn Liberty:  Why is the NRA so powerful?


Some things of note:

1.  The way the stick men caress the guns like luscious, curvy stick women is a little creepy.   Me gusta!  I'm not sure I would have chosen all the assault rifles, though.  Regular rifles, bolt action, or perhaps shotguns, are much more common interests for NRA members.
2.  I know that because I am an NRA member, and have been for a long time.  Card in my wallet, paid up member.  I am not happy with the recent positions on the NRA, on a variety of things.  But I am still a member.  Because the NRA is first and foremost the largest education and gun safety organization in the world.  And the magazines are awesome.  The NRA members I know, in law enforcement and gun training, are really fine people.  I am proud to be an NRA member, overall.
3.  I was so much fatter than.  I'm thinner than that now.
4.  As always, big ups to Elisabeth McCaffrey for making this all work.

Penn and Teller on Gun Control

This is worth watching. As always, Penn and Teller make some good points, some not as good points, and some things are just wrong.  But it's interesting and well done.


UPDATE:  I found this, over at Popehat (thanks, Patrick!).  Disturbing on two levels.  First, the presumption of doctors to think they have expertise on constitutional matters.  Second, relatedly but still separate, the imperialistic tendency of medical mavens to try to treat any action they don't like, for whatever reason, as a "public health" problem.  Ick.

2nd Amendment Fail

Wow.  My impression is that Robert Parry was once a legitimate journalist. But he's totally phoning this in

How about some Grand Game, 2nd Amendment history Fisking edition?

Here ya go.

The Real Rationale for the 2nd Amendment, That Right-Wingers Are Totally Ignorant About

Mr. Parry may have a point about Washington, at that particular point, but there was a rebellion.  The overall truth is more complicated.  Here is a nice collection of quotes that express the views of many of the other Founders on the 2nd Amendment.  

With a nod to Michael H., for picking out this gem.

More Legal Gun Ownership = Less Crime?

It is an unexamined assumption on the part of gun-control activists that the possession of a firearm by a law-abiding person will almost axiomatically cause that person to fire it at another human being in a moment of stress. Dave Kopel, the research director of the libertarian-leaning Independence Institute, in Denver, posits that opposition to gun ownership is ideological, not rational. “I use gay marriage as an analogue,” he said. “Some people say they are against gay marriage because they think it leads to worse outcomes for kids. Now, let’s say in 2020 all the social-science evidence has it that the kids of gay families turn out fine. Some people will still say they’re against it, not for reasons of social science, but for reasons of faith. That’s what you have here in the gun issue.”

...Today, the number of concealed-carry permits is the highest it’s ever been, at 8 million, and the homicide rate is the lowest it’s been in four decades—less than half what it was 20 years ago. (The number of people allowed to carry concealed weapons is actually considerably higher than 8 million, because residents of Vermont, Wyoming, Arizona, Alaska, and parts of Montana do not need government permission to carry their personal firearms. These states have what Second Amendment absolutists refer to as “constitutional carry,” meaning, in essence, that the Second Amendment is their permit.)

Many gun-rights advocates see a link between an increasingly armed public and a decreasing crime rate....Crime statistics in Britain, where guns are much scarcer, bear this out. Gary Kleck, a criminologist at Florida State University, wrote in his 1991 book, Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America, that only 13 percent of burglaries in America occur when the occupant is home. In Britain, so-called hot burglaries account for about 45 percent of all break-ins. Kleck and others attribute America’s low rate of occupied-home burglaries to fear among criminals that homeowners might be armed. (A survey of almost 2,000 convicted U.S. felons, conducted by the criminologists Peter Rossi and James D. Wright in the late ’80s, concluded that burglars are more afraid of armed homeowners than they are of arrest by the police.)

From Jeffrey Goldberg's article in The Atlantic.  Discuss.