Blogging will be light for the next few days as I’m working on an actual article for America’s First Freedom, as opposed to the tiny column I usually write. My deadline’s Tuesday morning, so I’m guessing things will be back to normal by next Tuesday. 
Actually, this story isn’t as bad as it could have been. “Only” a 200 dollar a day fine for intalling seven solar powered lights.
I’ve actually got five or six solar powered lights on my back deck and I haven’t asked for permission… guess I better start putting some money aside in case my HOA decides to come after me.
From the Brady Campaign: Huge Crowds Protest Gun Violence.
From the Seattle P-I: Protest Falls Flat When Few Show Up.
Few? Try two.
They also failed to get Washington D.C.’s mayor to attend their protest, even though he was listed prominently as a speaker in the pre-protest press releases.
In Illinois they protested a firearms manufacturer that sells primarily to law enforcement and the military.
IThe word “bumbling” comes to mind.
Actually, it’s not that simple. It’s jail time for violating a plea bargain… but the plea bargain was reached in a case having to do with not getting the required permits for landscaping.
We’ll be loading up the family truckster and hitting the road this evening. It’s been a great week, but I’m ready to go back to work. After a few days of not doing the show I get antsy.
But before I unplug the computer, here are a few more vacation pictures. (click “Read More” to see them).
For making me actually think while on vacation.
Zack visited today and left a link to his op/ed at the Huffington Post. So I went and read it.
Sorry Zach, but your theory doesn’t hold up to closer scrutiny. Go peruse the ATF data that they’ve released (you can find it in a post from earlier in the week). Zack says that gun crime must be up because the Clinton Gun Ban expired in 2004. But even the gun banners admitted the Clinton Gun Ban was a failure (of course, they say that it didn’t work because it didn’t ban ENOUGH guns).
But “assault weapons” aren’t the choice of criminals. In Pennsylvania, for example, the ATF received trace requests for 9,092 firearms, of which 1,158 were rifles. Now, this report doesn’t tell us if these are all firearms that were banned under the Clinton Gun Ban, but I’m guessing a majority of them were not. Regardless, we’re still talking about 12% of all firearms traced. And not all firearms traced were used in a violent crime. In fact, more than 1,000 traces were for either found firearms or for reasons not given.
Also Zack, take a look at the average “time to crime” for guns traced in Pennsylvania. On average, for those firearms traced that were actually used in a crime, the gun was sold legally more than nine years ago.
Criminals don’t buy guns legally. The drug dealers and the gangbangers don’t go down to the local gun store and wait for the background check to come back before they pick up a new pistol.
If you want to read something really interesting Zack, read this FBI report issued recently. Among the most interesting findings, of the 33 guns criminals used to assault an officer, 32 were aquired by the criminal in an illegal transaction.
You can argue that getting rid of gun control laws will reduce crime, but first you have to prove that criminals are paying attention to the existing laws, and this FBI study pretty clearly shows they’re not.
Still, it was nice to read an anti-gun op/ed that didn’t use the phrase “all powerful evil gun lobby”, so you get a half-point for that. And thanks for stopping by the blog. You should listen to the show some evening… you might have your eyes opened a bit.
Sorry, I know it’s not that exciting, but hey… my family reads this blog too.
Anyway, here’s a snap of James at the beach.
ATF has released some aggragate data on traced firearms (this isn’t a violation of the Tiahrt Amendment, btw). The link is here.
I took a look at the numbers from New York, and wasn’t surprised to see that the majority of firearms traced in New York come from… New York. Duh. The same holds true for Massachusetts, Illinois and California (and virtually every other state in the Union).
Of course the media won’t report that when they can instead talk about an “Iron Pipeline” sending guns from Florida to New York.
Also interesting to note the “time to crime” for the guns traced that were used in a crime. We’re talking an average of ten years nationally… not two or three weeks.
hat tip to Uncle.
So far we’re having a great time. Storms rolled through last night, filling the sky with lightning. It was an Oklahoma-style storm… straight line winds and lots of great visuals. Of course some moron was trying to set off fireworks at the same time. Maybe he thought it would look cool, but they dissipated in the wind before you could really see anything.
I haven’t had much of a chance to get the camera down to the beach, but I did take this picture a couple of days ago. No Photoshop this time, just the unedited pic for you. We’re going to try and see one of the lighthouses here this afternoon, which should make for some neat picture-taking opportunities.
By the way, James has gotten over his fear of the water. He’s still not the daredevil Catherine is, but he’s having a great time in the water too.
So far we’re having a great time in North Carolina. James is deathly afraid of the water, but Catherine has no fear whatsoever. Harrison and Andrew are having a blast with their boogie boards, and Elaine’s had a smile on her face since we got here.
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Two great tastes that go great together.
I love this story.
It’s gonna be awfully quiet around here until Monday, August 27th. I’m getting ready for the 1st Edwards Family Vacation that we’ve ever taken. We leave at the crack of dawn on Saturday and I’ve got a ton of stuff to do beforehand.
Yes, I am hoping to be an updated version of Clark Griswold over the next few days… with the possible exception of a dead aunt strapped to the top of the minivan. But if you’re lucky I’ll post a picture of me in my Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts.
Actually, that might be if you’re unlucky. If you’re lucky I’ll see if I can snap some pictures of bathing beauties.
From Phi Beta Cons:
Writing on NRO today, Frederick Hess examines the recent flap at the University of Maryland, where a student wearing a pro-Israel shirt was indignantly told by a cashier at the Maryland Food Collective that “Your shirt offends me. I won’t ring you up.”
The student was able to get another cashier to complete the transaction, but the episode led to a big flap over the rights of customers and cashiers. A spokesperson for the Food Collective says, “no one should have to have contact with people whose views they find hurtful.”
I’m not entirely unsympathetic, but first of all this should be a matter of contract between employer and employee. Most employers care whether grumpy workers drive away prospective customers because of their political hypersensitivity and they have the right to insist that workers refrain from turning sales into little political dramas. If this coop, however, chooses to allow its workers to protest by demanding that another worker serve customers whose views are “offensive,” that’s all right. Customers who don’t want to run the risk of such confrontations are free to shop elsewhere.
You know, maybe it’s just me, but I find the statement of “No one should have to have contact with people whose views they find hurtful” to be completely asinine.
If that’s really your belief, it’s time to pack up your stuff and move to a cave. Otherwise, repeat after me:
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
Then get a thicker skin and grow the hell up.
It’s called Where Did The Gun Come From.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say within three weeks this will be one of those blogs that’s updated sporadically (kinda like this one, I suppose).
Is it a question worth asking? Sure. But the problem seems to be that Ms. Robinson has already determined the answer is “the evil gun lobby and the firearms manufacturers”. I also haven’t seen any sort of possible solutions offered about how to prevent criminals from getting access to firearms, short of yet another misleading statement about the Tiahrt Amendment.
No, that title isn’t a joke. We recently bought a nice new digital camera and I’ve been wanting to learn Photoshop. So last weekend I went out to an old churchyard near my house and took some pictures. This is the result.
I made the picture black and white, and then erased the black and white filter over the closest set of flowers. I’m kinda proud of myself… it looks nifty!
Sometimes you just make this stuff up.
“I am constantly in court defending young Black men who are accused of shooting another young Black man,” offers Mr. Coard. He said that there are far too many guns on the streets of Philadelphia, that is why the MMM is now working to file a lawsuit against the National Rifle Association (NRA), which has successfully lobbied to prevent any county in Pennsylvania from having anti-gun legislation.
“We are looking for survivors of victims of gun violence who will sign on to our lawsuit. The object of our lawsuit is to allow Philadelphia to finally be able to pass its own gun legislation,” Mr. Coard stressed.
In other words, the Nation of Islam’s “Millions More Movement” is wanting to sue the NRA for lobbing (with success) for a pre-emption law years ago in Pennsylvania.
It’s pretty hard to go after the 1st AND the 2nd Amendment in one fell swoop… but they’re trying!
Having already stripped San Franciscans from their right to defend themselves in their own home, Mayor Gavin Newsom is now trying to ban gun shows from the Cow Palace… which isn’t even in San Francisco.
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The Texas Redneck Games. Man, that sounds like fun. I’ve already told Elaine we’re going next year… though there’s no way I’m bringing the kids along for that one.
I see that the head of Ceasefire NJ has a blog now. And in the comments to this post, Bryan Miller tries to claim that the reason why ATF supports the Tiahrt Amendment is because of politics.
Nice to see that you’re one of the tiny and dwindling minority who take the word of a Bushite political appointee like Michael Sullivan for fact. The rest of us have heard enough distraction, distortion and disingenuousness from the likes of Gonzalez, Libby, Rove, Cheney and W himself to take such pronouncements with a grain of salt as big as an iceberg. But, maybe you missed the memo about WMD.
First of all, Mr. Miller, as the head of a supposedly “non-partisan” organization like Ceasefire NJ, you really shouldn’t engage in the kind of mouth-foaming moon-battery that we see from folks like Cindy Sheehan.
Regardless, accusing Michael Sullivan of merely being a mouthpiece for the “Bushites” is incorrect, and if you’re really as educated on the issue as you claim to be, you know you’re wrong.
The ATF has been opposed to the general release of its trace data since at least 1999, when Chicago Mayor Richard Daley sued the ATF to try and gain access to the data under the Freedom of Information Act. The ATF, under the Clinton administration, also felt that this information should not be available to the general public.
It wasn’t until the case was headed to the Supreme Court in 2003 that Congress stepped in and passed the Tiahrt Amendment, rendering the Daley case moot.
When you have to ignore the facts in order to make your case, your case probably isn’t that strong.
I see that the head of Ceasefire NJ has a blog now. And in the comments to this post, Bryan Miller tries to claim that the reason why ATF supports the Tiahrt Amendment is because of politics.
Nice to see that you’re one of the tiny and dwindling minority who take the word of a Bushite political appointee like Michael Sullivan for fact. The rest of us have heard enough distraction, distortion and disingenuousness from the likes of Gonzalez, Libby, Rove, Cheney and W himself to take such pronouncements with a grain of salt as big as an iceberg. But, maybe you missed the memo about WMD.
First of all, Mr. Miller, as the head of a supposedly “non-partisan” organization like Ceasefire NJ, you really shouldn’t engage in the kind of mouth-foaming moon-battery that we see from folks like Cindy Sheehan.
Regardless, accusing Michael Sullivan of merely being a mouthpiece for the “Bushites” is incorrect, and if you’re really as educated on the issue as you claim to be, you know you’re wrong.
The ATF has been opposed to the general release of its trace data since at least 1999, when Chicago Mayor Richard Daley sued the ATF to try and gain access to the data under the Freedom of Information Act. The ATF, under the Clinton administration, also felt that this information should not be available to the general public.
It wasn’t until the case was headed to the Supreme Court in 2003 that Congress stepped in and passed the Tiahrt Amendment, rendering the Daley case moot.
When you have to ignore the facts in order to make your case, your case probably isn’t that strong.
August 1st, 1997. A typical summer day in Oklahoma City (scorching hot, with little chance of rain). I got up and went to work at KWTV for the last time. Honestly I don’t remember much of what I did that day (probably very little), because I was a little pre-occupied.
I do remember getting off of work and driving back home, picking up Elaine and the (two) kids, then setting off to Will Rogers Park with a couple of friends in tow.
We arrived at Will Rogers and tromped off to the herb garden in the back of the park, where a few weeks earlier we had discovered a cute little gazebo. The setting was beautiful… the perfect place to get married.
As the magic hour approached, the few friends that had gathered to share our special day looked around anxiously… as did Elaine and I. It’s kinda hard to get married when you don’t have a preacher, and ours hadn’t shown up yet. We were getting a little worried, since we had foregone the $75 permit that was required to get married in the park. So, leaving my bride-to-be behind, I set off to see if I could find our preacher.
It wasn’t too hard actually. Just down the path I saw the Rev. Dick Fisher. I waved and smiled and he started to walk my way. Just then another man, this one clad in a tuxedo, approached the Reverend from the other direction. Rev. Fisher began to walk off towards another wedding.
Wait! This was my preacher. I ran towards the pair, and (no kidding) began a brief tug-of-war with the guy from the other wedding party. I finally convinced him that no, this wasn’t the preacher for his wedding. Then we hightailed it back to the gazebo.
I don’t remember much of the wedding itself either. I remember it was hot. I remember that I forgot my vows, and pretty much made something up on the spot. It wasn’t as poetic as what I had memorized, but it must have done the trick. We’re still married ten years later.
We went back to our small apartment and had cake (Elaine made our wedding cake) and ice cream, and then a group of us went out dancing. No honeymoon for these kids… we didn’t have the money. In fact, the total cost of our wedding was less than $200, including Elaine’s dress.
We didn’t have any family at our wedding either. At the time, both sets of parents were mildly disapproving of the marriage. Elaine’s parents didn’t like the fact that she had moved halfway across the country, and my parents didn’t really like the fact that I was marrying an older woman with two kids (like she was some kind of golddigger out to spend my hard earned $6.50 an hour!). Over the years they’ve all mellowed, to the point that I’m fairly sure my mom likes Elaine more than she likes me.
We’ve come a long way since that hot August day in 1997. We’ve left Oklahoma, we’ve added three kids, we’ve both made some pretty incredible leaps and bounds in our career. And while we’ve had some tough times along the way, I can honestly say that I’m more in love with my wife today than I’ve ever been. And saying “I do” is the best decision I’ve ever made.