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The NRA "smears" Obama?
2008-06-08 19:19:00
NRA Smears Obama 's Stance on Gun Ownership. Barack Obama is trying to walk a fine line between protecting the right to bear arms guaranteed under the Second Amendment and clamping down on more than 30,000 deaths from firearms that happen every year in the United States. ... The laws Barack Obama supports that the NRA are vehemently against include sensible acts like: * Mandatory waiting periods to purchase a gun * Requiring citizens to actually register their firearms * Mandatory micro stamping of guns to aid tracing weapons * Banning inexpensive handguns that make it easier for criminals to acquire * Limit gun purchases to one gun a month * Require training for gun owners * Restrict gun ownership to citizens 21 and older * Eliminate right to carry concealed weapons read more
More About: Politics , Commentary , Gun rights , Gun Control

Minor Emergency Preparedness
2008-06-06 20:34:00
Emergency Lifehacks:Plan Ahead I am all for people making any level of preparation for emergencies. This is kind of a brief, novice level kind of disaster kit. The problem is that the thinking is kind of shallow. As an example CPR is good training if you can get the person to medical attention. The people that are 'saved' by CPR don't jump to their feet and live long happy lives, they are carried by ambulance to the ER. There isn't much value in have a giant first aid kit that you don't know how to use. It would be better to have a number of first aid kits full of stuff that you can actually operate. read more
More About: Commentary , Survival , Emergency , Minor

Homeowner Shoots Intruders
2008-06-06 17:24:00
Via SayUncle and KDT: Homeowner fired to protect his wife during invasion So we have two 19yr old adults, one with a prior criminal history, and one carrying a weapon, put on masks and break into a 70 yr old mans home and he shoots them both. read more
More About: Crime , Mindset , Intruders , Shoots , Decision making

Updates coming in a few days
2008-06-02 17:05:00
Those of you who wish you could travel more for work do not know the joys of flight delays and missed connections especially when the best case scenario is about 30 straight hours of travel. I'll get back to posting in a couple of days.
More About: Updates , Days

Tom Elben and Appeasment Strategy
2008-05-29 13:07:00
I am sure many of you have seen this on a number of other sites:NRA's slippery slope full of holes Again we get to the "reasonable controls" and "intelligent compromises" without actually statement of what these phrases mean. The short answer is a new red-tape hassle that doesn't solve the underlying problem, and stands to create new criminals rather than punishing the ones we already have. Consider a person who has some prohibited weapon, a magazine that is too big, a serial number that is too high, a caliber that is too scary, a grip that is too pistol-like, or some other qualifying feature. Depending on where this person lives this is either a serious crime or a big fat nothing. read more
More About: Commentary , Strategy , Gun Control

Unorganized Militia Propaganda Corps - This Is Misguided
2008-05-28 16:09:00
Unorganized Militia Propaganda Corps I don't know why anyone would want to associate themselves with propaganda when the truth is on their side. Propaganda has the connotation of 'lying to win' despite of the quoted definition: 1. The systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause. 2. Material disseminated by the advocates or opponents of a doctrine or cause: wartime propaganda. This says nothing about empirical truth, but simply the dissemination of opinion. Propaganda is a lever for ignorance. We have seen it used by the gun-banners because they don't have facts on their side. read more
More About: Commentary , Gun rights

Legal Community Against Violence
2008-05-28 12:03:00
Not just gun grabbers, these gun grabbers are lawyers. If you want a look at the future of gun control advocacy this is it. These guys want to nibble around the edges, attacking hunting regs, local ordinances, and the like.
More About: Commentary , Community , Legal , Violence , Gun Control

Grand Jury Indicts Father in Killing of Motorcyclist
2008-05-28 11:54:00
From all I have read about this it seemed like a bad shoot. Out of all of the options available to the father he made the wrong choice. I agree with his intent to protect his daughters but his methods were poor.
More About: Commentary , Crime , Father , Grand , Motorcyclist

SOP9 Expanded Commentary
2008-05-27 13:04:00
First I should begin by saying I have not seen the orginal SOP9 document (if anyone has a link to it I would like to get a hold of it.) So my comments are based on the analysis done here NYPD SOP 9 - Analysis of Police Combat The bulk of this article is an endorsement of point shooting. Much of the SOP9 material here is used as a justification of point shooting. I am not a point shooting advocate, and I don't see any evidence here to change my mind. We would like to see granular data that gives a picture of the hit rate for officers using a crouch in low light conditions at some particular distance. What we have instead is a mixture of point shooting and aimed fire under a range of different conditions. read more
More About: Commentary , Tactics , Equipment , Firearms

Homeland Security Charter School
2008-05-24 13:19:00
I suppose this is simply a police themed high school. It is an interesting idea, but I think it depends mostly upon the teachers and the cirriculum as to what the end product will be.
More About: Security , Commentary , Police , School , Homeland Security

The Top 10 Self Defense Myths
2008-05-22 13:21:00
The internet is full of "common sense" tips, regurgitating the same old information with out any real analysis or insight. I suspect that many of these tips originated from police departments who didn't want to go on record as endorsing active resistance or private citizens being armed. As these tips continue to make the rounds they become more like dogma, and less like doctrine. read more
More About: Tactics , Myths , Defense , Myth , Self-Defense

Rising ammo costs pinch gun owners
2008-05-22 01:09:00
I suggest starting to 'bulk buy' with groups of friends before reloading. Reloading is only cheaper if you count your labor as being 'free' or you shoot some exotic cartridge. Geting a .22LR conversion kit makes a lot of sense.
More About: Commentary , Costs , Owners

Possible limits on ATF "letter rulings"
2008-05-22 01:03:00
This could be good news (for once.) The idea that the ATF is basically able to create de-facto laws has always been troubling. An ATF letter is another example of bad-policy being worse than bad law.
More About: Commentary , Police , Letter , Limits

Adventures in Police Professionalism
2008-05-21 14:49:00
Radley Balko rounds up a few of the most severe bits of recent police misconduct. I don't know if these incidents are happening more frequently, or if I am just aware of more of them. I suspect both. I think law enforcement is due for an overhaul.
More About: Commentary , Police , Adventures

Pro-Gun Demographics
2008-05-15 15:50:00
This is some spot on commentary: Eating our own First and foremost is getting behind the constitutional right of the 2nd Amendment, because gun control needs to become a non-issue. If the constituencies of both parties reject these inane assaults on our liberties and safety then we can move on to disagree about the other issues. The NRA and other gun rights groups need to shed the image of fat white guys in cammo. The population of rural farmers is not growing as fast as that of urban minority groups. As a practical matter rural farmers are less likely to be targeted for crime and oppression than members of minority groups living in the inner cities. read more
More About: Commentary , Gun rights , Demographics

Reforming Forensics
2008-05-15 13:03:00
I can't see anything wrong with the idea of competing forensic labs. I am not sure how it would be funded, but I think defendents having independent experts looking at the evidence wouldn't be a bad thing.
More About: Commentary , Crime , Forensics

California city gets video surveillance fever
2008-05-15 11:50:00
I guess they haven't learned that the cameras don't reduce crime. London's experiment has not been successful. This is a $1.8m boondoggle with a service contract. That kind of money buys 36 man/years of increased security guards or police.
More About: Video , Commentary , California , Crime , Surveillance

Five-seveN Gun Blows Up In Owner's Hand
2008-05-14 10:26:00
Apparently the FN Five Seven will fire out of battery. The owner here was using reloads, but I don't think a double charge was the issue. The forum suggest that it is a manufacturing defect.
More About: Commentary , Hand

ATM Scam
2008-05-14 09:33:00
This is a pretty clever trick. It is basically a very convincing looking fake ATM machine. It has a card reader and a camera to capture your pin.
More About: Commentary , Crime , Scam

What to do if the police stop you
2008-05-14 09:16:00
This is similar to my previous link on this topic. This is driven by the ACLU guidelines. I think that the ACLU is probably the right organization to get advice from.
More About: Commentary , The Police , Police , Stop

ATF chief: Crime rose as cities' funding dropped
2008-05-13 16:03:00
The ATF spends an awfull lot of time shuffling the papers of liscensed dealers and not out catching violent criminals. This looks like plea to increase the size of the fiefdom and the budget. Make them patrol the border instead.
More About: Commentary , Crime , Chief , Police , Cities

Police arrest and search FAQ
2008-05-13 14:45:00
I came across this and found it interesting. It is a good general guideline for what your rights are when dealing with the police. I am not a lawyer so I can't vouch for any of the advice offered here.
More About: Commentary , Arrest , Police , Search

Kahr Arms expose
2008-05-12 15:02:00
I like Kahr pistols, they are a good product. This article points to some unseemly connections between Kahr, the Moonies, and North Korea. Interesting read, but the author has a bias, and is ignorant of firearms and the issues.
More About: Commentary , Crime , Arms , Expose

M4 vs. Shotgun for Law Enforcement
2008-05-12 10:49:00
Pitiful Aim Mr. Rummel (of Hell in a Handbasket fame) discusses the selection of the M4 over the Shotgun by Chicago PD. I do not agree with many of the assertions that he makes in his article. There is a lot to be said for the humble scattergun. It is probably the most devastating close combat weapon there is... read more
More About: Equipment , Law Enforcement , Enforcement

Traffic Stop Guidelines
2008-05-12 09:27:00
Car & Driver has a piece about how to conduct yourself at a traffic stop. This is basically common sense, but it is worth reading. Behaviour inline with these guidelines might save you a traffic ticket.
More About: Commentary , Traffic , Police , Stop , Guidelines

PA Police Demand Gun Owners? ?Identity Papers?
2008-05-11 23:52:00
Jed has great detailed post about the police over stepping their legal authority by seizing guns. Please go read it.
More About: Commentary , Police , Gun Control , Identity , Papers

Taser jolt can cause fatal heart rhythm
2008-05-11 23:09:00
The opinon of a Cardiologist and a rival company believe that under certain circumstances Taser s can cause arrhythmic death. The subject needs more study.
More About: Commentary , Jolt , Heart , Rhythm

Having some problems with tags and taxonomy
2008-05-07 12:41:00
This has caused a few posts to loose their comments. Working on it.
More About: Problems , Tags , Taxonomy

"Smart" Taser
2008-05-07 10:59:00
If this works as advertised it would mean that if an officer looses control of his taser some smart-gun wizardry would disable the weapon. The article is skimpy on details about how this works.
More About: Commentary , Equipment , Smart , Taser , Tasers

"Smart" Taser
2008-05-07 10:59:00
If this works as advertised it would mean that if an officer looses control of his taser some smart-gun wizardry would disable the weapon. The article is skimpy on details about how this works.
More About: Smart , Taser