Disarming Iraq

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Tue, 24 Jun 2003 12:00:00 GMT

azski at BattleRifles.com - CMP and the M14 rifle - azski wrote the the Civilian Marksmanship Program about the alleged U.S. government plan to destroy M14s, and received this response: [highroad]

Bill, I sincerely appreciate everything that you are trying to do.

However, what you are reading on the Internet is total crap. No matter how many times we say it - the Army does not have any M14s that are surplus. The petition that is floating around is over 20 years old, many of the "facts" in it are incorrect, and it is being circulated without CMP permission or even coordination with the CMP. The folks who are pushing this issue have not bothered to find out from the CMP if we are even interested in obtaining M14s. There is alot of baggage associated with the M14s that we may not want to get involved in, or even be allowed to get involved in because of our corporate status.

Facts are that the Army only has a relatively few thousand M14s in inventory, the M14 is not obsolete, it is an active weapon for the Navy and USMC and other government agencies, there is an active program ongoing for sale of the M14 to law enforcement agencies, no M14s are being destroyed or have been destroyed for almost ten years.

I sincerely do appreciate you asking. You're one of very few. We would appreciate not getting any assistance from the public concerning the M14.

Orest Michaels
Chief Operating Officer

Russell Madden at Laissez Faire Electronic Times - Gun Control in America East - concerning the disarmament of the Iraqi people. [grabbe]

After all, this policy is what the State follows here in the West. Why should those in charge alter their stripes when transplanted to the East?

For example, some people do stupid things on recreational drugs.

The collectivist response? Ban all such drugs (and drug paraphernalia) for everyone. (And ban raves, while you're at it.)

Some people build unsafe homes.

Impose uniform building codes even on the most conscientious of contractors.

Some people do lousy jobs of home-educating their children.

Force all children to attend government-run or -approved schools or adhere to State-determined rules even if a parent has multiple doctorates.

Some people are killed when they foolishly refuse to buckle up or when they drive when drunk or neglect to wear helmets.

Mandate seat belts and airbags for all -- even if such devices kill people -- and continually drop the legal blood alcohol levels until even social drinkers become felons.

Some people use guns to murder and rob or to kill themselves.

Restrict and regulate or ban all guns for all people.

The Iraqis are learning the joys of the latter policy up close and personal.

David Carr at samizdata.com - Shhhhhh....don't tell anyone - the European and Amerikan welfare states are almost bankrupt. Expect massive tax increases soon, as their death throes begin. [kimdutoit]

Ron Paul's Texas Straight Talk - Declining Dollar, Declining Fortunes - on the devaluation of the dollar caused by Greenspan's irresponsible money policy.

I recently had an opportunity to hear testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan at a hearing of the Joint Economic committee. I always relish the opportunity to question Mr. Greenspan at such hearings, because I disagree so strongly with Fed policies. Mr. Greenspan is a remarkable man, with a background as a devotee of novelist Ayn Rand, a supporter of the gold standard, and a fervent advocate of capitalism. So I'm at a loss to explain his metamorphosis into a believer in fiat currency and centralized economic planning.

Of course capitalism is based on the premise that centralized economic planning is bad. I'm always amazed that otherwise pro-market conservatives, who rightfully scorned disastrous Soviet economic policies, are so willing to accept centralized monetary planning by the Fed. True capitalism requires a free market for money and interest rates, just as surely as it requires a free market for wages and prices.

John Ross - Race, Values, the O.J. Verdict, and Right-To-Carry, or A Statistician Explains a Conundrum - An exploration of why St. Louis and Kansas City (Missouri) were over 90% opposed to a referendum for shall-issue concealed carry.

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Losing the Peace in Iraq
Phoenix Acquired
Summer Solstice, 2003
Bush Lied, and People Died
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One Handgun Can Defeat an Army
What Good Can a Handgun Do Against an Army.....?
Dwarf Tossing Banned in Florida
Claire's Bonfire of Horrors

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Quotes

Government doesn't work. Never did. Never will. Can't. But there are lots of good people. Love them.

-- Bill St. Clair

The Atlanta Declaration

Every man, woman, and responsible child has an unalienable individual, civil, Constitutional, and human right to obtain, own, and carry, openly or concealed, any weapon -- rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- any time, any place, without asking anyone's permission.

-- L. Neil Smith

Reread that pesky first clause of the Second Amendment. It doesn't say what any of us thought it said. What it says is that infringing the right of the people to keep and bear arms is treason. What else do you call an act that endangers "the security of a free state"? And if it's treason, then it's punishable by death. I suggest due process, speedy trials, and public hangings.

-- L. Neil Smith

A Penalty Clause for the Bill of Rights

Any official, appointed or elected, at any level of government, who attempts, through legislative act or other means, to nullify, evade, or avoid the provisions of the first ten amendments to this Constitution, or of the Thirteenth Amendment, shall be summarily removed from office, and, upon conviction, deprived of all pay and benefits including pension, and sentenced to imprisonment for life.

-- L. Neil Smith

Based on 253 journal articles, 99 books, 43 government publications, and some of its own empirical work, the panel couldn't identify a single gun control regulation that reduced violent crime, suicide or accidents.

-- John Lott, commenting on the National Academy of Sciences report on gun control laws.

Who is a libertarian?

Zero Aggression Principle ("Zap")

"A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, or to advocate or delegate its initiation. Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim."

-- L. Neil Smith

(Formerly called the "Non-Aggression Principle", or "NAP")

Why Did It Have to be... Guns?

Make no mistake: all politicians -- even those ostensibly on the side of guns and gun ownership -- hate the issue and anyone, like me, who insists on bringing it up. They hate it because it's an X-ray machine. It's a Vulcan mind-meld. It's the ultimate test to which any politician -- or political philosophy -- can be put.

If a politician isn't perfectly comfortable with the idea of his average constituent, any man, woman, or responsible child, walking into a hardware store and paying cash -- for any rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- without producing ID or signing one scrap of paper, he isn't your friend no matter what he tells you.

If he isn't genuinely enthusiastic about his average constituent stuffing that weapon into a purse or pocket or tucking it under a coat and walking home without asking anybody's permission, he's a four-flusher, no matter what he claims.

What his attitude -- toward your ownership and use of weapons -- conveys is his real attitude about you. And if he doesn't trust you, then why in the name of John Moses Browning should you trust him?

-- L. Neil Smith

Concise

"Tell me," I was once asked, "What do you think about gun control? Give me the short answer." To which I replied, "If you try to take our firearms we will kill you."

-- Mike Vanderboegh

Also from The Atlanta Declaration:

... like going to the bathroom, breathing, eating, sleeping, or making love, it turns out that self-defense is a bodily function one cannot safely or effectively delegate to a second party.

-- L. Neil Smith

This does not mean that "Marijuana should be available by prescription." It means that morphine sulfate should be available in five pound bags at the supermarket for a couple of bucks, like sugar... but probably in a different aisle, to avoid confusion.

-- Vin Suprynowicz

If you refuse to pay unjust taxes, your property will be confiscated. If you attempt to defend your property, you will be arrested. If you resist arrest, you will be clubbed. If you defend yourself against clubbing, you will be shot dead. These procedures are known as the Rule of Law.

-- Edward Abbey

The state can only survive as long as a majority is programmed to believe that theft isn't wrong if it's called taxation or asset forfeiture or eminent domain, that assault and kidnapping isn't wrong if it's called arrest, that mass murder isn't wrong if it's called war.

-- Bill St. Clair