New Toy!

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Tue, 13 Jul 2004 12:00:00 GMT

# Gregg and Evan Spiridellis at Jib Jab - This Land - 3.7 meg Flash animation, poking fun at both Bush & Kerry. Hehe. [smith2004]

# I intend to pick up my new Marlin 1894P tonight. My original plans were to finish paying for it two weeks from today, but I've decided I can afford the rest now, in honor of it being exactly two months until the "assault weapons" ban sunset. Yay!

# I posted the following to scopeny, then edited the last paragraph a little for this posting:

I have been wondering for a while what would happen to New York's regular-capacity magazine ban (often erroneously called a "high-capacity magazine ban") after the federal "assault weapons" ban expires on September 13. In most of the country, there will then be no limit on magazine capacity. But New York's ban, a copy of the federal ban, but with no sunset date, will still be in effect. I had been thinking until today that though it would still be possible to enforce the ban on too many ugly features on semi-automatic rifles, that the magazine limit ban would be impossible to enforce. Today I learned differently.

Currently, magazines that hold more than ten rounds that were manufactured after September 13, 1994, have stamped on them, as an identification, "Law Enforcement Only". Brian Olsen, the managing owner of B&J guns on Central Avenue in Albany told me today that he was told by Tom King, president of the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, that after the federal ban sunsets, new regular-capacity magazines will still be stamped for identification, with something like, "Not for Sale in MA, NJ, NY, ..."

I'm bummed.

There is a possible upside, however. After the federal ban sunsets, the market for pre-ban magazines will then be much smaller. Some industrious souls will buy prebans in the non-ban states for more than it costs there to buy new magazines of the same capacity, then resell those prebans in the still-banned states, likely for less than they cost today. People in non-ban states will be able to trade in their old magazines for new ones, at a profit, and we in the still-banned states will have a new stock of, still premium but cheaper than before, pre-ban magazines. Ain't the market wonderful?

# Ames Music - What do we do without government? - the video on the left side of the page. Requires Windows Media Player or a clone. [root]

# round here - Enlaces - beautiful photography. From the about page: [root]

I've been taking pictures since I can remember; like everybody else, I guess. But to me it became a hobby and then a passion a couple of years ago. With that in mind, it's safe to say I don't know anything about photography.

What I like about taking pics is not so much the end result but the search for the right photo.

Looking at things from the perspective of a photographer lets you see a lot of things that you wouldn't notice in other circumstances: shades, colors, shapes, moments, expressions, people, etc. I guess there are people who can see things that way without having to take photos. To me, photography was like an eye-opener to start searching for the beauty of everything.

As Dorothea Lange said: "The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera."

# Ron Paul's Texas Straight Talk - None of Your Business! - apparently, the Census Bureau has a yearly highly-intrusive involuntary questionnaire. [smith2004]

I introduced an amendment last week that would have eliminated funds for this intrusive survey in a spending bill, explaining on the House floor that perhaps the American people don't appreciate being threatened by Big Brother. The amendment was met by either indifference or hostility, as most members of Congress either don't care about or actively support government snooping into the private affairs of citizens.

Russel Whitaker provided a link to the 2003 version of the survey (PDF): name, sex, age, date of birth, relationship to householder, marital status, and race of every resident, 25 questions about the residence, 36 more questions about each resident. All told: 24 pages of intrusiveness, which "The Census Bureau estimates... will take 38 minutes to complete". From the Census Bureau's What is the American Community Survey page:

The American Community Survey is conducted under the authority of Title 13, United States Code, Sections 141 and 193, and response is mandatory. According to Section 221, persons who do not respond shall be fined not more than $100. The U.S. Census Bureau may use this information only for statistical purposes. We can assure you that your confidentiality is protected. Title 13 requires the Census Bureau to keep all information about you and all other respondents strictly confidential. Any Census Bureau employee who violates these provisions is subject to a fine of up to $250,000 or a prison sentence of up to five years, or both.

You may view Title 13 at the U. S. House of Representatives website at the following address: http://uscode.house.gov/Title_13.htm [Cornell's copy is easier to use]

# Al Lorentz at Alex Jones' Prison Planet - Police State: The Patriots Code of Silence - from a comment on yesterday's entry by Mark Odell. Another reminder to never tell the police, especially feds, anything but your name and adress. Nothing. Nada. Never.

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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