An Interesting Question

From David Hardy:

An interesting question:
After President Obama apologized to Afghanistan for a soldier who cracked and killed 16 Afghanis, shouldn't he apologize to Mexico for the 300 deaths caused by Fast and Furious?

End of an Era

From FoxNews: After 244 years, Encyclopaedia Britannica ends sale of print edition.

I remember in the '70s when my dad was a salesman for Encyclopaedia Britannica. I still have a set he bought with "heirloom" binding in 1977. I also have a 1958 edition I picked up in the '80s. I recall as part of his sales pitch Dad would pick up a volume using one page to show how well made they were and how they would last.

I once had a library full of dictionaries, thesauruses, encyclopedias, and other reference works. Many are now gone and I haven't purchased any such in a long, long time. It's all on the web, you see... I may be alone, but I think our world is poorer for it.

Police Department Shut Down; 9-Year-Old Tasered

When is it appropriate to Taser a nine year old boy? Mt. Sterling, Ohio police decided the line was drawn when a nine year old boy wouldn't go to school.

The incident occurred when Michelle Perry called police because her nine-year-old son, Jared, would not go to school. Authorities responded, and when the child became unruly, an officer used a Taser gun on the boy. Neighbors have described the child as "large for his age," according to The Columbus Dispatch, though they have chosen to remain anonymous.

Police Chief Mike McCoy has been suspended for not reporting the incident to city officials. Council President Lowell Anderson told the local paper that an investigation is currently underway. The entire department has been closed, and Sheriff Jim Sabin has been given authority to patrol the town.

Words fail me.

Ted Nugent Destroys CNN Gun Control Spin

Piers Morgan plays the dummy...





Via @Smitty_One_Each at TOM.

AT&T, You Suck

This Wired item is why my latest AT&T contract is my last (plus the fact that I had to spend ~14 hours on the phone with "tech help" to fix my warrantied phone). AT&T Adjusts Data-Throttling Policy in Response to Customer Complaints

Here’s how AT&T’s new policy works, according to the carrier’s updated support pages:

If you have a smartphone that works on our 3G or 4G network and still have an unlimited data plan,

• You’ll receive a text message when your usage approaches 3GB in one billing cycle.
• Each time you use 3GB or more in a billing cycle, your data speeds will be reduced for the rest of that billing cycle and then go back to normal.
• The next time you exceed that usage level, your speeds will be reduced without another text message reminder.
• If you have a 4G LTE smartphone and still have an unlimited data plan, the same process applies at 5GB of data usage, instead of 3GB.

You’ll still be able to use as much data as you want. That won’t change. Only your data throughput speed will change if you use 3GB or more in one billing cycle on a 3G or 4G smartphone or 5GB or more on a 4G LTE smartphone.

Wired reached out to AT&T to determine the degree to which user speeds will be reduced under the new throttling plan, but the carrier hasn’t yet responded.

GOP Slightly Ahead in Voting Enthusiasm - Gallup

I likely won't do much 2012 POTUS posts since I'm not very motivated by the remnants of the GOP lineup, but it seems even we Red Staters are more enthusiastic about Mittens and Company than the Democrats are by the train wreck that is Barack Obama. From Gallup: GOP Slightly Ahead in Voting Enthusiasm

By 53% to 45%, Republicans, including independents who lean Republican, are slightly more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to say they are "more enthusiastic than usual about voting" this year. Republicans have consistently led Democrats in voting enthusiasm since last fall, but to varying degrees.

Heh, guess it sucks to be Blue.

Andrew Breitbart Dead at 43

The Flame of the Right New Media and the Bane of the Left is gone.

Stacy McCain and IrishSpy have comments, Legal Insurrection has a detailed wrap-up. And, of course, Bretbart.TV.

If You Love Me You'll Ride The Lightning.

From Patch.com:

With the idea to teach his 70-year-old wife how to use a self-defense Taser, 76-year-old Thomas accidentally deployed the weapon, striking the her in the face, according to the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office incident report.

It seems Harry thought this would be a good after Church activity.

Come to think of it, there are times... Nope, don't even think it.

Obama Abandons Tennessee - No State Campaign HQ

While I was in the ATT store tending the broken CrackBerry, a "gentleman" came in wearing a blue polo shirt with the horrid "O" Obama emblem over the heart and "Rusty" stitched on the left. It seems he is an acquaintance of the ATT tech fellow who was trying to fix my phone. They began conversing about the 2012 Election during which the Obamite stated he is fairly high in the Tennessee Obama minion structure and that Obama will not establish a Tennessee campaign headquarters. It seems Obama's team has given up on Tennessee as a "Red State."

The Obama minion went on to state that the Tennessee Obamites are traveling to North Carolina to campaign there instead of in Tennessee as they think it will be a closer contest and a more likely Obama win.

Fair Warning to Bob Owens and Sister Toldjah... Targets headed your way.

Tech Help Blues

AT&T and BlackBerry, this time... I wasted NINE hours on the phone yesterday with a multitude of techies from both AT&T and BlackBerry trying to find out why my Torch would not access WiFi. It will log on to the WiFi, but won't use it. It will only go online via the mobile data connection.

Before I finally got to the BlackBerry techs, the AT&T techs (don't know if it was their mobile phone folks or their Uverse guys) found a way to not only wipe all data from the phone, but also corrupt the backup files on my BlackBerry desktop software.

Fun.

So, this morning has been spent re-creating the environment I had made on the Torch over the past three or so months.

A special place in Hell is reserved for the Gmail folks who thought it would be a good idea to not only stop support for the Gmail app for BlackBerry, but also cleanse the entire web of the app. It occurred to me this morning that I still had the Gmail app on my BlackBerry Bold so I copied it from there to the Torch.

The upshot is that the phone is no where nearer being fixed than it was when this started yesterday, and I've lost a lot of data that WAS backed up before the "experts" got involved. Consensus is that the phone is at fault, which is what I told everyone from the start.

Where do I go to get a wasted day and half of my life back?

Problems With A Gun Shooting Wife #38

She shot last Saturday and STILL hasn't cleaned the weapon. I've hinted, used direct statements...

I've held off doing it myself, but it is KILLING me.

Arg.

You Could Get Tased...

If you try to break into a car and then wave a sword looking knife at the Po-Po. And if a ride on the lightning doesn't work, even Brit cops will shoot your keister. Four times.

Via SayUncle

Self Defense Mentality (Update)

This is a re-post of an item I wrote almost two years ago. I recently re-certified for the Tennessee Armed Officer license and also went through the course with my wife who took it for the first time. I've taken all my certification classes at APPS (for both Security licenses and the Tennessee Handgun Permit) with Buford Tune and we attended APPS again this last week. Perhaps because (I think, I haven't asked) of the compressed time constraints to stay competitive with other training offered in the area, detailed examination of the below videos and specific incidents have been omitted from the class time. I'm no expert, but I considered the examination of the FOUR D's OF SELF DEFENSE GUN FIGHTS and the Dinkheller incident the most important part of the class time with Buford Tune at APPS.

I'm re-posting this because I think it is VERY important to keep in mind the lessons learned for every law abiding citizen who carries for self defense and for the defense of loved ones.

From 8 October 2010:
I often see items from various self defense gun bloggers/writers about what to shoot, how to shoot, why we need to be able to shoot, where to go to learn how to shoot... And very seldom on the mental attitude needed when one decides to provide the basics for one's self defense.

One video that Buford Tune at APPS shows every concealed carry course and every armed security officer course is of a self defense expert speaking (someone told me it was John Farnam but it didn't LOOK like Farnam)* about the mentality needed to carry a firearm for self defense and what to do when the firearm is needed versus an armed opponent.

*[EDIT: It IS a very much younger Farnam!]

The end of the video is striking: The expert describes a self-defense situation where you have just used your firearm to defeat the bad guy. The bad guy is on the ground. He slowly grasps his handgun and begins gradually raising it toward you.

What does this mean?

In a stern, authoritative voice the expert states: It means you have not shot him enough!

In the video the four D's of self defense gun fights are explained. When confronting the bad guy:
Divide his focus.
Disrupt his plan.
Disable his body.
Destroy his will to fight.

In the above scenario it is assumed you have accomplished the first three D's. However, if the bad guy is still trying to fight, the fourth is still unfulfilled. The fight is only over when all four have been checked off the list. Here is where we come back to the mentality needed to carry a firearm for self-defense. Those who choose to carry must have the will to follow through on all four D's. You must be willing to destroy the opponent who means you and your loved ones harm.

Another video shown is that of the 1998 murder of Deputy Kyle Dinkheller (Caution: the video is very disturbing) during a traffic stop in Georgia. Dinkheller stopped a pickup truck for failure to display legal tags. Noting a large dog in the cab of the truck, Dinkheller asked the driver (who will be nameless in this blog) to step to the back of the vehicle. The driver was immediately confrontational. When Dinkheller initially was able to get the driver to come to him, the driver attacked Dinkheller and was repulsed by use of an Asp baton.

The driver retreated and began acting irrationally, jumping around and shouting "Shoot me, Shoot me!" and declaring that he was a Viet Nam combat veteran. All the while the driver was maneuvering back to the driver's side door of his vehicle. During this Dinkheller was repeatedly ordering the driver to come back to the rear of the truck, stop what he was doing, etc...

When the driver reached the door of his truck he retrieved a .30 caliber rifle (in the video it looks like a M-1 carbine) and began loading it. Dinkheller can be heard screaming for the driver to put the rifle down. Dinkheller fired the first shot in the ensuing gun battle. The driver can be seen using cover and combat techniques to isolate and expose Dinkheller. The driver shot Dinkheller in the arms and legs to disable him - areas not covered by a vest - before finally killing him with a close up shot to the head.

The driver sustained one wound to the stomach. He was sentenced to be executed in a 2000 trial and has been appealing since. He is still scheduled to be put down.

In the after math and investigation it was revealed that Dinkheller had just prior been reprimanded by superiors for his demeanor during traffic stops. He was told to be nicer.

The video demonstrates that bad guys can and do use the Four D's just as well as we can. It is incumbent upon us to make sure we have the proper mental outlook to make sure we succeed and not the bad guys. After seeing that he could not defeat Dinkheller unarmed, the driver made the decision to escalate the encounter an armed fight and acted upon a plan to win.

The driver: Divided Dinkheller's focus and Disrupted Dinkheller's plan with erratic behavior and statements. Once armed, he Disabled Dinkheller's body and Destroyed his will to fight.

Meanwhile, evidently because of the reprimand and his youth (Dinkheller was 22), Dinkheller made plenty mistakes in the encounter that led to his death. And, no, I'm not speaking ill of this murdered officer, I'm trying to illustrate that we can learn from his mistakes. I'm sure that he would understand this. His first mistake was going out with a mind set that did not allow him to act on what was transpiring in the encounter. His mental attitude did not allow him to act aggressively enough, or to "bail out" when the situation went south.

There was a vital point after he repelled the driver with the Asp that he either had to press the attack or retreat to wait for backup. His mind set did not allow either. On one hand, he had been reprimanded for not being nicer during traffic stops so he did not disable the driver and prevent him from going to the truck. On the other, the "macho" aspect did not allow him to get in his cruiser and get the heck out and wait for backup.

As concealed carriers we do not do traffic stops, but similar scenarios and incidents can happen to us. Will we have the mental attitude necessary to defeat the threat and save our loved ones and ourselves? We must answer that question every single time we put the weapon in its holster. If not, Dinkheller's sacrifice and the lessons taught in his encounter will be in vain.

And the bad guys will win.

That can not happen.

Obama Slashing Armed Pilots Program

Obama has slashed funding in his 2013 budget for the Federal Flight Deck Officer program from $25 million to $12 million. The funds are used to conduct background checks, pilot training, periodic retraining and re certification, and administration costs.

The proposed budget also cuts the Federal Air Marshal Service by 4% to $927 million dollars.

Here's the kicker: We spend about $15 PER FLIGHT for FFDOs (armed pilots) and about $3,000 PER FLIGHT for federal Air Marshals.

Via John Lott and CNN.

Tennessee Firearms Alert - Employee Safe Commute and Non-Discrimination Bills

In the Inbox from TFALAC this AM:

Tennessee Firearms Association, Inc.
Legislative Action Committee

---

UPDATE ON EMPLOYEE SAFE COMMUTE --

So, one might ask, what is the status of the Employee Safe Commute (SB3002/HB3560) legislation at this point?

The bill has been delayed in the Senate. It is unclear if this was a move by the governor or those who are bowing to the pressure of "Big Business" or a benefical strategic move by the sponsor. At any event, progress in the Senate, if statements of legislators are accurate is positive. The biggest risk is that some form of amendment, probably bought by Fedex or its cohorts) could substantially remove the objectives of the original bill. To guard against that, citizens who support this bill must be called and contacting legislators to encourage and demand of them that no amendments pushed by Fedex or other Big Business dollars be accepted unless approved by firearms interests.

Senate Action Plan

• Call and email you individual senator (use the email and phone number lookup on the Senate directory. It is important for you to get a written statement if possible that they will co-sponsor and support the bill as written and that they will oppose any Fedex or other "big business" amendments that would dilute the intent of the bill.
  
• Call and email to encourage the sponsor Sen. Mike Fault to keep the bill free from Fedex or "big business" amendments
  

  Faulk, Mike

  R

  - 615

  741-2061

  sen.mike.faulk@capitol.tn.gov

• Call and email to ask that the Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey work with citizens to keep the legislative effective and to defeat any Fedex or other "big business" amendment.
  

  Ramsey, Lt. Gov. Ron

  R

  - 615

  741-4524

  lt.gov.ron.ramsey@capitol.tn.gov

With respect to the House, we are expecting that there will be at least 30 House co-sponsors. Many of those are Republican legislators who are probably starting to realize that the mandates of House Leadership (Beth Harwell, Debra Maggart, and Gerald McCormick) would probably cause those legislators to violate their promises to constituents, to violate their personal convictions, to violate their constitutional oaths of office or their fundamental beliefs that they were elected as conservatives to protect the rights of citizens and to minimize the influence of government in areas where government influence is nothing more than government tyranny needlessly supplanting the rights of citizens.

We do not expect, in part because of the pressure being exerted by FedEx and other "Big Business" interests on those legislators that they controll through their funds (both reported and "indirectly" applied), that the bill will move forward in the House without SUBSTANTIAL pressure and interest from individual voters. It was made clear repeatedly this week by statements to news reporters from House leadership such Debra Maggart and Gerald McCormick that House leadership is working to kill any pro-2nd Amendment legislation and that they are applying pressure in the nature of the proverbial "hounds of hell" against their own members to abide by the demands of leadership's own masters.

For example, this week Debra Maggart told Channel 4 News in response to an apparent question about the Employee Safe Commute legislation :

"We have been focused on what we know what people of Tennessee want us to work on. Our economy needs to be looked at, and we want to make sure it's a job-friendly state," said Rep. Debra Maggart, R-Hendersonville.

Now, you have to put this into context that Debra Maggart has "represented" to firearms owners in the past that she was soundly in support of the Constitution, the 2nd Amendment and working for firearms owners. Indeed, she even has used the firearms owners to raise campaign funds through programs such as her On Target to Win in 2010"1st Annual Sporting Clay Fun Shoot fund raiser (see, https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=160853824412 ) that was heavily promoted not only to the Tennessee Firearms Association but to others as well.

So what did Maggart really mean with her statement this week to Channel 4?

Essentially, that the House Leadership have been admonished by "Big Business" that they want "their" legislators to do what they want them to do - including killing the Employee Safe Commute bill and firearms nondiscrimination bills - or the floodgates of corporate campaign money may be redirected against them or cut off. She probably meant that because "we" are addicted to the corporate money to crush the Democrats and even any prospective primary opposition, we will do what is requested of us to make sure we, individually, are able to get re-elected and to recruit more RINO's and moderates to help us implement our agendas (which do not put any emphasis on constitutional rights).

Why does it appear that these Republican House leadership (and a few in the Senate as well) are so clearly deeply obliged to "Big Business"? Well, step away and look at one of the most common themes that you hear from House Republican leadership this year - "jobs, jobs, jobs". What they mean when they say that is NOT that they are creating more government jobs (although they likely are). It is not that they are making it easier for people to start new small businesses. It means most probably that they want to do whatever is possible - forget the Constitution (look what they did last year to the 7th Amendment and their lack of any focus on the 10th Amendment) - to appease businesses like FedEx, Bridgestone, AT&T, Amazon, etc. Their idea of "jobs, jobs, jobs" is to court big business in hopes that many minimum wages will suddenly be made available to Tennesseans. Not high paying jobs. Not careers. Just simply any job will do.

A verification of that comes from the enormously misguided statement made by Gerald McCormick this week concerning Rep. Eddie Bass. Rep. Bass - a very conservative legislator - has indicated he is considering running this year as a Republican. Perhaps he senses that the Democratic party continues to move left under the leadership of Obamit. Perhaps he feels that his conservative voting record is more consistent with Reagan style leadership than it is with Obamit/Pelosi leadership. It really does not matter because the "hint" from McCormick is in what he said to the news when he REJECTED the potential that Rep. Bass might run as a Republican.

Leader McCormick made this statement to the AP this week:

Republican House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick of Chattanooga said he's heard that Bass has been mulling a party switch for the last two or three years, but said he is satisfied with potential GOP candidates considering a bid in House District 65.

"I'd rather he'd stay where he is, to tell the truth," McCormick said. "He's not doing himself any favors running that gun bill." * * * House Republicans would prefer not to take up the bill in an election year.

McCormick apparently believes that his leadership (Harwell) is of the opinion that the progress for citizens such as the Employee Safe Commute bill is not "favorable." Clearly, firearms owners are a significant voting segment and they favor this bill overwhelmingly. Who does not? Well, clearly House Leadership and that is probably because their "masters" - "Big Business" do not want it.

Also note that House Leadership, according to McCormick, "prefer not to take up the bill in an election year."

Why is the election year so significant that he would mention it? Campaign funds? News coverage? The foolish belief (after the last 15 years) that voting FOR 2nd Amendment rights would cause a legislator to lose a material number of votes rather than voting AGAINST 2nd Amendment rights causing sustained frustration and anger from voters.

House Leadership has picked its bedfellows and those bedfellows are purchasing their "favors" primarily with cash. Not the Constitution. Not Biblical principles. Not natural rights. Not common sense. Not the demands of their voting constituents. CASH - and that is one of the oldest professions known to man.

House Action Plan

• Call and email you individual representative (use the email and phone number lookup on the House directory. It is important for you to get a written statement if possible that they will co-sponsor and support the bill as written and that they will oppose any Fedex or other "big business" amendments that would dilute the intent of the bill.
  
• Call and email to encourage the sponsor Rep. Eddie Bass to keep the bill free from Fedex or "big business" amendments
  

  Bass, Eddie

  D

  615

  741-1864

  rep.eddie.bass@capitol.tn.gov

• Call and email to demand that Speaker Beth Harwell honor her oath of office and support the Constitution and the rights of citizens even if "Big Business" is paying her to do otherwise.
  

  Harwell, Speaker Beth

  R

  615

  741-0709

  speaker.beth.harwell@capitol.tn.gov

• Call and email Rep. Debra Maggart and demand that she honor her oath of office and support the Constitution and the rights of citizens even if "Big Business" is paying her to do otherwise.
  

  Maggart, Debra Young

  R 615

  741-3893

  rep.debra.maggart@capitol.tn.gov

• Call and email Rep. Gerald McCormick and demand that he honor his oath of office and support the Constitution and the rights of citizens even if "Big Business" is paying her to do otherwise.
  

  McCormick, Gerald

  R 615

  741-2548

  rep.gerald.mccormick@capitol.tn.gov

---

Big business access

Big business and their lobbyists often have direct access to legislators through their cell phones and their personal (non-government) email addresses. If you have access to this information, please post it on the TFA Online Forum so that we can take that step to leveling the playing field of legislative access. This would be particularly true for leadership in both houses and in both caucuses.

---

TFA Action Center

The TFA Action Center remains up and operational. So far, more than 10,000 emails have been sent to the legislature just on the issue of the Employee Safe Commute bill.

I encourage you to use it at least once a weel. It is important that you edit both the subject and the message to reflect your personal thoughts. Edit them even if you agree with the sample message. Legislators do not want or need to see 1000 of the same message. They want to hear from constituents and individuals. They do not need long messages, angry messages or threats but they do need to hear that citizens support this legislation.

Share this link, this effort and this mission with every firearms owner, constitutionalists or friend you have. Make sure that they keep the messages going to our legislators that we want progress made on this legislation even if "Big Business" is buying influence with House Republican leadership to do otherwise.

Keep in mind that FedEx, Bridgestone, Nissan, AT&T, Amazon and others spend hundreds of thousands on their lobbyists and contribute hundreds of thousands more - if not millions (directly and, uh, "indirectly") to purchase their desires from the legislators. But, these corporations do not vote. These corporations do not speak for all of their employees. Often, its only a handful of the "upper management" that make these "policy" decisions and those decisions often do not reflect the desires of the shareholders, owners and certainly not the employees.

It can be done but it is critical that voters get involved to remind the legislators that the citizens elected them as our representatives and we do not appreciate them selling their time and efforts, once elected, to whichever "Big Business" will wine and dine them, give them money and perform all manner of indirect "perks" that provide photo opportunities in their districts.

---

If you would like to join or renew your membership, you can do so online at this link JOIN TFA
www.tennesseefirearms.com

Went Shootin'

Took the Wife shooting today in preparation for her Permit course this coming Friday/Saturday... Now, she's fired small bore rifles before and has dry fired the several revolvers... But this was her first time firing live rounds from a handgun.




We went in with 250 rounds... And came out with ZERO. I shot about 30-35 of them. After she started shooting I just found a chair and waited.

Think she was having fun?


I had to stop by my favorite gun shop (Nashville Sporting Arms) to re-stock on ammo. I had been there earlier in the day to buy ammo but by the time Herself was done we were fresh out.

We stopped at Starbucks on the way back for Starbucks Appreciation Day.

All in all, it was a hell of a day.

Sarah McKinley - Armed Again

Remember Sarah McKinley? She is the 18 year old mother of a newborn who lost her husband to cancer on Christmas Day and a week later had to fend off home invaders with a shotgun while waiting for 911 to get law enforcement to her house. She shot one and the second fled.

Well, local PD had to take her shotgun for evidence which left her less defended. In step the good guys...

Via SayUncle, from Arms, Farms, & Fam:

McKinley’s primary home defense gun, the shotgun, was taken for evidence. “We’ll probably have it for at least a couple of months,” the detective said.

Mr. Boch and some friends decided to make a difference and make sure Sarah McKinley has a replacement home-defense shotgun. Antonio Luna, a part-time adjunct staff instructor with Fortress Defense Consultants, made some contacts and lined up a gun. The Blanchard police chief referred Mr. Boch to a trusted, nearby gun dealer, Nathan Morrison of KAIROS Services, LLC., and offered to send a squad to give Sarah a ride to pick up the shotgun once it arrived.

Everyone at Blanchard PD, from the chief down to the front desk clerk, expressed profound and sincere appreciation for any help we or others could provide. “Anything you can do to help with be very much appreciated as that young woman is having a very difficult time right now,” the desk clerk told Mr. Boch.

Mr. Luna secured most of the money needed for a bare-bones Remington 870. A day later, at the Tuesday evening GSL meeting, Mr. Boch asked GSL members to help come up with a $100 to $150 in order to trick out the shotgun with a side-saddle, sling and to take care of any incidental costs. After Boch started a hat around with $10, a few minutes later, GSL members came through with not one, but two hats, stuffed with $487.

Sarah McKinley’s gun arrived on Martin Luther King’s birthday. It’s a tricked-out Remington 870 Express 12ga with a Hogue fore-end and 13” youth stock, a Mesa Tactical 8 round side saddle, Trijicon ghost-ring tritium sights, an Advanced Technologies mag clamp swivel mount and a Vickers Tactical Blue Force two-point sling. Also included are a few boxes of Federal Personal Defense 00 buck, which the gun loves.

Sarah McKinley picking up the donated shotgun.

The gun was test fired before shipping. Ryan Stoy, of ZX Gun in Goshen, IN told Boch, ”I test fired the gun this afternoon. It’s a good gun. I built it up myself and it’s what I would want someone I care about to have.”

We (Boch, Luna, etc.) are weighing options for either giving McKinley a check for the remaining cash, or making arrangements to (legally) get her a personal defense caliber revolver.

There is a trust account set up to help Sarah McKinley. If you missed the meeting and would like to contribute to help this girl have a better year in the Year 2012, here is the contact information.

Sarah McKinley Trust Fund
Chickasa Bank & Trust
405 485-2300
Ask for Leah.

Awesome!

Starbucks Appreciation Day - TUESDAY

From Sebastian:

We have an announcement from the National Gun Control Victims Action Council, an umbrella group for the usual suspects, that they are going to boycott Starbucks on Valentine’s Day 2012, which is February 14th. I am going to declare February 14th Starbucks Appreciation Day, by encouraging gun owners to head to Starbucks to buy some of their fine coffee and pastry products. Bitter and I will certainly participate. I encourage everyone to follow through to the link to the official event to take a look at what they are encouraging folks to do, and do the same, only with a pro-gun or gun-neutral message. You can e-mail Starbucks here. and tell them you appreciate them not taking a position on this issue, and following state laws, and that you appreciate their products. Don’t use the gun control organization’s form, even though you can change the message. They will likely use that to present to Starbucks corporate and spin your name on the list as a supporter of Starbucks banning guns.

I can promise you we can more than offset whatever paltry decrease in sales the anti-gun people will cause. Nontheless, our opponents have once again brought this deceased equine out for a flogging, so we have to once again show Starbucks there are a lot more of us then there are of them.

Tennesseans Voted for THIS?

Why is GOP Speaker Beth Harwell (Twitter @SpeakerHarwell) stonewalling conservative legislation that expands recognition of the rights of citizens to self defense? From TFALAC:

Tennessee Firearms Association, Inc.
Legislative Action Committee

---

House Leadership playing "Naifeh Style" maneuvers to kill bill?

There are at least 4 bills pending this year that address the issue of allowing handgun permit holders to commute to and from work without being disarmed by employer policies which blindly prohibit the employees from leaving a firearm secured in their vehicles. These bills include SB2061/HB2021 that remains pending from 2011. New bills this year include SB3002/HB3560 (the primary TFA bill), SB2941/HB3479 and SB3451/HB3660.

All of these bills deal with the exact same issue. All of these bills in the Senate are assigned to the Judiciary where historically firearms related bills are assigned.

Now, what has happened in the House is interesting and harkens back to Jimmy Naifeh's creation of the "Constitutional Protections" subcommittee that he created specifically to kill firearms related legislation. In 2011, HB2021 was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee by the Speaker's office. That is where firearms bills are historically assigned in the House even though they usually would be further reassigned to one of 2 or 3 subcommittees of the Judiciary committee to start.

However, 2012 is a new year. It is a year in which House Republican leadership has made known to the rank and file caucus members that the leadership (Speaker Harwell and her task force of shadow operatives) do not want any firearms related legislation to surface in the House in 2012. Perhaps they blame it on the unfortunate arrest of Rep. Curry Todd on DUI and firearms possession charges last year after he successfully carried firearms legislation for many years. Perhaps they want to "lay low" on firearms legislation in an election year so that moderates and liberals might view them as "acceptable" candidates to vote for in the election. Perhaps they want to deprive election opponents of challenging whether or not these Republicans really are "good on the 2nd Amendment" as Speaker Harwell claims with increasingly less credibility to firearms owners.

Whatever the reason, a decision was made, perhaps intentionally, to depart from historical practices in the House Speaker's office. This year, all of the Employee Safe Commute bills (except for HB2021 which was already in Judiciary) have been assigned by Harwell's office to the House Committee on Consumer and Employee affairs. Everyone realizes that this committee has a long history of addressing firearms issues including this specific issue - Right! One could easily surmise that Harwell's office intentionally sent this bill to that committee thinking or hoping that it would not get the attention that the House Judiciary normally has and that she would have a much greater chance of having the bill killed or gutted in the Consumer and Employee affairs committee or subcommittee than would otherwise be the case in the House Judiciary.

Of course, this could have been a legitmate decision to place the bills elsewhere thinking that an employee affairs committee would have more expertise than the committee (Judiciary) which has dealt with firearms legislation almost exclusively since at least 1994. Perhaps the Speaker was not aware that this is primarily a firearms related bill that impacts criminal prosecutions and the removal of infringements as required by the State and Federal Constitutions. Of course, the Speaker has been serving since the 96th General Assembly which gives her approximately 23 years of experience on committee assignments and perhaps this was a stroke of genius to realize that this bill deals more with employee affairs than it does with constitutional rights.

However, that same 23 years of experience may have also impressed on the Speaker's office how her predecessors, such as Jimmy Naifeh, worked to kill bills in packed subcommittees without every having a representative floor vote where the voice of all legislators representing all citizens of the state could be heard on a topic so fundamental as the right to effective self-defense and the 2nd Amendment.

Membership in the House Employee and Consumer Affairs Committee and their profile links:

Committee Officers

• Jimmy Eldridge, Chair
• Mark White, Vice-Chair
• Jimmy Matlock, Secretary

Members

• Glen Casada
• G. A. Hardaway
• Sherry Jones
• Steve McManus
• Gary Moore
• Mark Pody
• Joe Towns
• Johnnie Turner
• Tim Wirgau
• Rick Womick

Snipers at the Super Bowl?

Yep, according to this Facebook feed. Via SayUncle.

Tennessee Firearms Alert

From the In Box:

Tennessee Firearms Association, Inc.
Legislative Action Committee

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TFA Email Campaign on Employee Safe Commute Legislation

URGENT - the link/page below is directly to the action center on the TFA website. This page will allow you (and all your friends) to send emails to the Tennessee General Assembly (your individual legislators + all members of both judiciary committees + the governor) telling them how YOU feel about the EMPLOYEE SAFE COMMUTE bill (a/k/a parking lots bill).
It is important that we let our voices be heard - by the thousands - to support this bill because it is almost certain that Speaker Beth Harwell and others who are "first and foremost aligned with Big Business" will try to stop this legislation. It is going to require that we call upon the conservative legislators (not necessarily equal to ALL of the GOP) in both houses and in both parties to carry this bill to law. It will have substantial resistance by those with large and powerful PACS.

Please go to this site now and take less than a minute to participate. Then, forward this message to every email list that would be interested in this change in the law. Next, post this campaign and link on every web forum, blog or bulletin board whose members you believe may have an interest in this change in the law.

TFA Action Center - Employee Safe Commute (Parking Lot) Campaign

TJIC Day

From Jay G:

Today is January 19th. One year ago today we learned about the fate of MA blogger TJIC, who had his Second Amendment rights illegally infringed in retaliation for words he wrote in the aftermath of the Gabriele Giffords shooting. TJIC - although never charged with a single crime, let alone convicted - had his MA LTC revoked and was declared "unsuitable" to own firearms. Because of the arbitrary and capricious manner of MA LTC issuing, there is no reason whatsoever needed to revoke one's permit other than the nebulous "unsuitable person" criteria...

In support of TJIC, we recommend that everyone go out and get something related to the Second Amendment. Could be a firearm, could be ammunition, heck, it could even be a $5 pack of targets. Just go out and get something related to the Second Amendment (A Lahti would be nice...). Show support for TJIC and the unAmerican way in which his rights were stripped completely without due process, and show it in the manner most directly related to the situation.

And here is mine...
That is a Smith&Wesson 581 L-Frame. Six rounds of .357 Magnum goodness... I snapped the pic on the way home from the gun shop. Yep, she was already loaded. What good is an unloaded gun?

Update on Korean Garands

SayUncle:

It looks like the .gov has unforcked itself and they will be imported:

The U.S. is set to import antiquated firearms from South Korea that were previously banned from entry, officials here said Thursday. Defense ministry officials said the United States has approved imports of M1 Garrand rifles, which were used by U.S. forces during the 1950-53 Korean War. “The U.S. sent an approval letter in September last year,” a ministry official said. “The U.S. will be willing to review legal procedures once we seek to export the rifles.” The official added that an exporter will be selected in an open bid at the end of this month at the earliest.

Note to wife: Start saving up.

SOPA Darkness

I agree; SOPA and PIPA need to be stopped. I'm unimpressed with the going dark thing, however. Seems a bit like giving up your guns to protest a gun ban.

Update: SayUncle ain't going dark, either. "I’m not going dark, you may have noticed. You can, however, go here and write congress to tell them what petty tyrants they are for trying such a thing."

Update2: Neither is IrishSpy (who also linked us): "I won’t, because of my distaste for the sanctimonious political theater the Left is so fond of."

Has Haley Barbour Gone Nuts?

Seems he has pardoned 14 convicted murderers among the 208 convicts he pardoned on the way out the door as Mississippi's governor.

I admit to having been a Barbour fan, but this issue indicates we may have dodged a political bullet when his Presidential bid fizzled.

We Can Do Better Than Ron Paul

...And I think we could hardly do worse.