DEA Foot Shot

Initiating a new "Friday Funnies" feature. He's "the only one in this room professional enough" to handle a gun. Gotta wonder. The former agent sued alleging that DEA had leaked the video and that he was now unable to work as an undercover agent. It didn't go anywhere. This one has been around the block. We posted this a couple of years ago and I saw it on YouTube and decided to clean up our files. Contribute your gun-related links! Continue reading DEA Foot Shot

The Color of Gun Control

      (Manassas, VA, July 31, 2007) There is no question that many early gun control laws were specifically aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of African Americans and other unpopular minorities.  In the early 1900’s there was a movement led by the KKK to enact discretionary permitting systems whereby an individual must obtain a permit from local law enforcement to purchase or possess a firearm.  While current media may revise this history to suggest that the system was intended to “keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally deficient”, there was little effort made at the time these laws were passed to conceal the fact that they were intended to protect the “dominant race” from “the sons of Ham.”  New York’s infamous “Sullivan Law” (aimed more at Catholics, Jews, Italians, and other immigrants), and North Carolina’s strict purchase permit system are the only two examples I know of where these laws have survived with only minor changes since their enactment in 1911 and 1917 respectively. Continue reading The Color of Gun Control

Blast From the Past — AK-47 Video

Over twenty years ago, Neal Knox teamed up with Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America to try out the latest technology:  A VHS video recorder.  Their object?  An experiment in comparative terminal ballistics:  Shoot watermelons and see what gun makes the biggest splash.

The hot issue of the day was the awesome power of the AK-47.  Keep in mind the context of the times, massacres in Stockton, California, Louisville, Kentucky and elsewhere were raw memories.  The media, as Josh Sugarmann had predicted, was in a frenzy over “para-military” weapons and “assault weapons.”  Even today, it’s not unusual to see a nicely groomed news-reader gasp over the power of the AK-47.  And let’s just forget about the crime dramas.

It’s amazing how little has changed over the past twenty years.  Every TV station’s news department has the consumer reporter who investigates extravagant claims.  But I’ve never seen one of those guys investigate his colleagues’ claims of the over-stated power of an AK.  This despite the fact that it makes for some really cool video.

I finally got around to digitizing a copy of The Truth About AK-47 Firepower and, with the kind permission of Larry Pratt, posted it to YouTube.  To comply with YouTube’s file size restrictions, I had to cut out Larry’s narrative.  The, uh, juicy parts are all there.  Just follow the link below: Continue reading Blast From the Past — AK-47 Video

Parker discussion at VCDL meeting

I had the opportunity to speak briefly about the Parker case at a recent Virginia Citizen's Defense League meeting and someone was thoughtful enough to post my comments on You-Tube.

For clarification, the long question that is inaudible was asking whether DC was going to be forced to repeal their law while the case was under appeal – I don't think so.  There was also a question about SCOTUS dividing the decision and only hearing part of it – Again, I don't think that will happen.

BUT – I am not a lawyer and there is no guarantee of what the Supreme Court will do.  Having studied the court and the case rather thoroughly and having spoken with lots of lawyers and professional court watchers, I am pretty confident in my evaluation.

Click below to view the video. 

Continue reading Parker discussion at VCDL meeting

Militarized Cops

I'm not ordinarily a channel surfer, but stuck in a hotel room recently, I tuned in to Dallas SWAT.  It's a video ride-along with SWAT teams in various parts of the country — this one was in Detroit.   I've seen scarier things on TV in the past few years from the September 11 attacks to the Waco horror.  But this one was scary because it was so routine.  Detroit cops working with the Secret Service served a search warrant against the house of someone accused of — get this  — identity theft! 

Continue reading Militarized Cops

Parker Heads to SCOTUS

      (Manassas, VA, July 17, 2007) The Mayor of Washington DC, Adrian Fenty, yesterday announced that the District is indeed going to appeal the “Parker” case to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).  The original deadline for filing an appeal was August 7, but the District has requested, and will likely be granted, a 30 day extension for preparing their appeal.

      There has been much speculation as the August deadline has drawn closer that DC would choose not to appeal the case for fear of strengthening the precedent set when the Federal Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the District’s long-standing gun prohibition laws were a violation of individual rights protected

Continue reading Parker Heads to SCOTUS

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