Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite.
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Noah Schachtman on the Mexican drug cartels building "technicals." Of interest to me was this passage:
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From the Scotusblog we find that the Ninth Circuit has asserted an "indivdual right" to own weapons for self-defense, and opines that the existence of that right “is ‘deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition,' and that it puts barriers in the path of not just the Federal gov't, but also state and local gov'ts under the 14th Amendment.... but they laid out some important caveats.
As this will certainly head to the Supremes, winning back the White House looms ever more important. -the Armorer
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As my DHS Internal Threat Map goes very mildly viral, the most bemusing thing was the number of people who thought it was... real. -the Armorer
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Noah Schachtman on the Mexican drug cartels building "technicals." Of interest to me was this passage:
If the ATF is correct (and if they examined the weapon, I'll grant them the accuracy of identifying the gun) that would be an example of a gun that slipped south of the border from up here. -the ArmorerMexican Federal Police General Rodolfo Cruz said it was a .50 caliber Browning machine gun -- a Ma Deuce -- while the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said it was an unmodified semi-automatic weapon built by U.S. manufacturer TNW Firearms.
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From the Scotusblog we find that the Ninth Circuit has asserted an "indivdual right" to own weapons for self-defense, and opines that the existence of that right “is ‘deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition,' and that it puts barriers in the path of not just the Federal gov't, but also state and local gov'ts under the 14th Amendment.... but they laid out some important caveats.
But, following the lead of the Supreme Court’s decision last June in District of Columbia v. Heller, finding a personal right in the Second Amendment for the first time, the Circuit Court concluded that the right as interpreted by the Justices is limited to “armed self-defense” in the home.
Thus, the Circuit Court refused to strike down an Alameda County ordinance that makes it a crime to bring onto county property a gun or ammunition, or to possess them on that property. A county supervisor who sponsored the ordinance cited “a rash of gun violence” in an apparent reference to the school shootings in the late 1990s, including the one at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.
The Alameda ordinance, the Circuit Court said, does not involve the kind of armed self-defense that the Supreme Court had in mind in Heller. “It regulates gun possession in public places that are County property,” it concluded.
As this will certainly head to the Supremes, winning back the White House looms ever more important. -the Armorer
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As my DHS Internal Threat Map goes very mildly viral, the most bemusing thing was the number of people who thought it was... real. -the Armorer
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*A term of art from the artillery. Harassment and Interdiction Fires. Back in the day, when you could just kill people and break things without a note from a lawyer, they were pre-planned, but to the enemy, random, fires at known gathering points, road junctions, Main Supply Routes, assembly areas, etc - to keep the bad guy nervous that the world around him might start exploding at any minute. Not really relevant to today's operating environment, right? But, it *is. The UAVs we fly over Afghanistan and Pakistan looking for targets of opportunity are a form of H&I fires, if you really want to parse it finely. We just have better sensors and fire control now. Of course, now I have to call them UAS's, because someone got a Legion of Merit for the name change.Anyway, I call the post H&I Fires because it's random things posted by me and people I've given posting privileges to that particular topic. Another term of art that might be appropriate is Free Fire Zone.
Regarding the 9th Ciruit's ruling, I would suggest you and your readers go here:
http://anarchangel.blogspot.com/
And read Chris' article. Just scroll down his blog, it's the 2nd from the top article.
One of the money quotes is from Alameda County Supervisor Mary King, who made it crystal clear where she stands:
King declared she had “been trying to get rid of gun shows on Country property” for “about three years,” but she had “gotten the run around from spineless people hiding behind the constitution, and been attacked by aggressive gun toting mobs on right wing talk radio.”
At her press conference, King also said that the County should not “provide a place for people to display guns for worship as deities for the collectors who treat them as
icons of patriotism.”
Indeed, elections DO have consequences.
Respects,
*GREAT*, keep it up.
Heh,
At her press conference, King also said that the County should not “provide a place for people to display guns for worship as deities for the collectors who treat them as
icons of patriotism.”
Nor for those same collectors who use bayonets for blood sacrifice rituals :)
Sorry, Master John,
It just sort of, er, slipped out...... heh...
Someday I'll tell you the story of how I broke my nose with a reversible electric drill.....
And speaking of blood sacrifice.... a number of those "lifelines" on my hand are actually scars from years of working with X-Acto knives. More or less.....
The huge, massive and very well organized criminal gangs among the hispanic element of our western and south western states are known to be working in alliance with the cartels south of the border. MS13, 18th Street, various older "Mexican Mafia" organizations, ect ect, now own and operate the coyote lines that smuggle both people and drugs north across the border and also have a heavy hand in the smuggling of guns to the south. No amount of legislation aimed at gun control or civilian disarmament will do squat to stop that. The gangs themselves will need to be broken and destroyed before anything of value can be accomplished on all those issues. And that will never happen. We just dont have it in us, any more, to treat armed and hostile invaders as the enemy they actually are.
On the 2nd Amendment issue: Fear of open and armed rebellion has always been the primary check and balance on runaway government. There is also the issue of the various state and the federal gov of refusing to deal in any competent way with the large and growing, hostile alien insurrection element growing within our borders. Not all illegals belong in that category, but far too many of them do. No amount of legislation will keep criminal gangs from arming themselves. Never happen.
On the threat map:
I suggest you revisit that map, at least on California. There are heavily fortified dragon COPs in California. Areas along the southern coast, and Kern County at the arse end of the San Joaquin Valley come to mind.