Archive for the ‘Guns’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

One for the Ayoob Files?

Friday, February 11th, 2011

This story is worth keeping an eye on, especially since it represents a weird intersection on the Venn diagram between the jihad watch and gun crankery.

In brief, Raymond Davis is an employee with the U.S Embassy in Lahore. Davis was out driving around when (he claims) two men on motorcycles tried to rob him. Davis shot them both, and claims self-defense. Pakistani prosecutors claim that Davis killed the two men in “cold blood” and are pressing murder charges against Davis.

The two men were in possession of handguns and bullets were found in the firearms’ magazines, but neither of them had a bullet in the chamber of their pistols, [Lahore police chief Aslam] Tareen said. Moreover, after Davis began firing and one man darted down the street to flee, Davis shot him in the back, according to the police chief.

More:

Police officials say no witnesses have turned up who corroborate Davis’ claim that he was being robbed. However, Punjab police officials who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the case said both of the men Davis shot dead were known to police as being members of a robbery gang. Cell phones that they had when they were shot turned out to be stolen, police officials said.

And:

The judge also referred Davis’ claim of diplomatic immunity to the Lahore High Court, an appellate panel that will take up the issue Feb. 17. The U.S. Embassy has stated repeatedly that as a member of the embassy’s “technical and administrative staff,” Davis enjoys immunity from prosecution. Embassy officials, however, have declined to clarify exactly what his assignment was in Pakistan.

CIA, maybe? That would explain why he was carrying a pistol. It would also lead me to give more credence to his robbery defense; somehow I doubt a CIA employee would blow his cover and blow away people in the street unless he had a genuine fear for his life. (This is where you all can accuse me of being naive, which is probably true.)

Posted in Clippings, Guns, Politics | 2 Comments »

For Cthluhu’s sake, why?

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

As much as I like LaRue Tactical and the 10/22, this is one product I won’t be purchasing.

(Hattip: Say Uncle.)

(Edited to add: Video of the product in action here. Thanks to our friend James.)

Posted in Guns | 2 Comments »

Mexican Gun Ducks!

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

I generally don’t read Stratfor articles unless someone points me to them. Nothing against Stratfor; it’s just a matter of limited time, and the sort of geopolitics Stratfor usually covers being more along the lines of other bloggers.

However, Snowflakes In Hell has a link to a solid article on the Mexican gun issue.

…the 3,480 guns positively traced to the United States equals less than 12 percent of the total arms seized in Mexico in 2008 and less than 48 percent of all those submitted by the Mexican government to the ATF for tracing. This means that almost 90 percent of the guns seized in Mexico in 2008 were not traced back to the United States.

Interesting fact:

Cartel hit men in Mexico commonly use .380 pistols equipped with sound suppressors in their assassinations. In many cases, these pistols are purchased in Mexico, the suppressors are locally manufactured and the guns are adapted to receive the suppressors by Mexican gunsmiths.

Posted in Clippings, Guns | Comments Closed

Impressive.

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

Actual HouChron headline:

Actual text of article:

The White House has rejected a request from the U.S. agency that monitors weapons sales to give them emergency authority requiring firearms dealers near the Mexican border to report multiple purchases of high-powered rifles.

I see the Journalist’s Guide to Firearms Identification is still in use.

Posted in Clippings, Guns | Comments Closed

Random notes: February 8, 2011.

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

There are a couple of interesting things in the NYT this morning.

J. Paul Getty III passed away over the weekend. That’s a name (like Koo Stark, he said, tipping his hat in Lawrence’s direction) I hadn’t thought of in years. Getty was most famous as the victim of a kidnapping “by Italian gangsters” during which his ear was cut off. I knew he was something of a party animal, but I was unaware of his 1981 stroke (apparently the result of an overdose). I was also unaware that Balthazar Getty was his son.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles (and specifically LACMA) are trying to figure out how to maintain the Watts Towers, and how to get more tourists to a part of town that’s most famous for riots.

And the NYT has made their move:

…“Spider-Man” is not only the most expensive musical ever to hit Broadway; it may also rank among the worst.

Yes, this is a real review.

I would like to acknowledge here that “Spider-Man” doesn’t officially open until March 15; at least that’s the last date I heard. But since this show was looking as if it might settle into being an unending work in progress — with Ms. Taymor playing Michelangelo to her notion of a Sistine Chapel on Broadway — my editors and I decided I might as well check out “Spider-Man” around Monday, the night it was supposed to have opened before its latest postponement.

The fallout from the NYT decision should be interesting. The pin has been pulled from Mr. Grenade. He is no longer Ben Brantley’s friend. On the other hand, Charles McNulty in the LAT has Brantley’s back:

Julie Taymor’s $65-million, accident-prone production, featuring an erratic score by U2’s Bono and The Edge, is a teetering colossus that can’t find its bearings as a circus spectacle or as a rock musical.

And it looks like Peter Marks in the WP is standing with Brantley and McNulty:

What’s apparent after 170 spirit-snuffing minutes in the Foxwoods Theatre – interrupted by the occasional burst of aerial distraction – is that director Julie Taymor, of “The Lion King” fame, left a few essential items off her lavish shopping list:

1. Coherent plot

2. Tolerable music

3. Workable sets

Charles Willeford, call your office, please:

A man who was at an illegal cockfight in central California died after being stabbed in the leg by a bird that had a knife attached to its own limb, officials confirmed Monday.

In other news, the WP has discovered (reporter with a database!) that people in “Washington’s safest, most well-to-do neighborhoods” have registered more guns than people in “poorer, crime-plagued areas of the city”. I may have more to say on this later, time permitting.

Edited to add: I was in a hurry to finish that last post and hadn’t got to the Statesman yet, unfortunately. I previously noted the fires at several Austin restaurants, including the Green Muse Cafe. (There was also a recent fire at Habana, which I didn’t note for reasons that escape me at the moment.)

Anyway, APD made an arrest:

According to his arrest affidavit, [Martin] Gutierrez [the alleged arsonist – DB] said he believed a large tunnel system lay under Gillis Park near Oltorf Street and that people were being held there against their will. He admitted he started the fire at the Green Muse Cafe because he wanted to inform the public of the tunnel and “what was really going on here,” the document said.

Posted in Art, California Über Alles, Clippings, Food, Guns, Law, Obits, Theatre | 1 Comment »

The Washington Post FAILS to make me testy.

Monday, February 7th, 2011

(I’m not going to put a “Part 1” on that because this is probably the first and last time you will ever see those words together.)

Stephen Hunter, former WP movie critic and awesome thriller writer (actually, scratch the “thriller” part) writes in the WP defending normal capacity magazines.

(Hattip: Say Uncle. Actually, one of his commenters.)

(Edited to add: Better Say Uncle link here.)

Posted in Clippings, Guns | Comments Closed

Things you may have wondered about. (#2 in a series)

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

What ever happened to Jacqueline Kennedy’s pink suit and matching pillbox hat?

The pink suit, blood-stained and perfectly preserved in a vault in Maryland, is banned from public display for 100 years.

And the hat? Sadly, it did not wind up on top of a cantaloupe honeydew melon in an episode of Penn and Teller’s “Bullshit”. Indeed, nobody knows for sure where the hat is…

The pillbox hat — removed at Parkland Hospital while Mrs. Kennedy waited for doctors to confirm what she already knew — is lost, last known to be in the hands of her personal secretary, who won’t discuss its whereabouts.

(Previously.)

Posted in Clippings, Guns, Wondering | Comments Closed

Important safety tip. (#2 in a series)

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

A gun is a gun. It is designed to shoot things.

A gun is not an all purpose tool. A gun is not a club. A gun is not a prybar. A gun is not a bottle opener (the Galil aside). A gun is not a tool for breaking out windows.

Bad things can happen when you use your gun for things other than shooting. For example, if you use your gun to club someone (no matter how deserving) you may mar the finish. Blood does awful things to a gun’s finish, especially the beautiful bluing on older Smith and Wesson revolvers.

Hitting things with your gun can also bend parts. Then your gun won’t go off when you need for it to go off. As the great Peter Hathaway Capstick once said, “The most terrifying sound in nature is not the roar of a charging lion, nor the whistle of a descending bomb; rather it is a click when you expect a bang.”

But the worst thing that can happen is that your gun might go off when you don’t want to go off. (I’d almost be willing to argue with Capstick that the sound of a “bang” when you expect a “click” is even more terrifying. However, I haven’t spent much of my life hunting lion and elephant in Africa, more’s the pity.) For example, when you’re breaking out a car window.

An Humble police officer had apprehended two fleeing car burglary suspects in a stolen truck. One of the suspects, whose identity has not been released, was accidentally shot to death by the police officer, who used his duty weapon to break the passenger window of the stolen truck, Humble police said.

Bad move, space cadet. (Edited to add: Just to make it clear for my readers outside Texas, “Humble” in this case is a city near-ish to Houston, not a description of the police officer.)

But two police tactical experts said the action taken by the Humble police officer is not common practice and is not taught in police academies.

“I’d hate to be in his pants right now,” said retired Houston police Sgt. Frank C. Miller, who taught tactical procedures to Houston Police Department narcotics officers for more than 20 years.

“From a tactical standpoint, it was very risky. Good arrest, shaky tactic — but, you know, they pulled it off. But the (suspect) died, unfortunately. Those things happen. (The suspect) was the bad guy — I don’t feel sorry for him.”

Posted in Clippings, Cops, Guns, Law, Safety, Stupid | 3 Comments »

TMQ watch: January 25, 2011.

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

It’s a travesty! It’s a sham! It’s a mockery! It’s a travishamockery! All in this week’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback, after the jump…

(more…)

Posted in Guns, NFL, Sports, TMQ watch | 1 Comment »

We are amused.

Monday, January 24th, 2011

By this story in the LAT about the arrest of rapper “40 Glocc” (sp?).

Specifically, we are amused by:

  • the name “40 Glocc” (which, Lawrence points out, is both distinctive and not subject to trademark infringement suits).
  • Mr. “Glocc”‘s arrest (his real name appears to be Lawrence White) on weapons charges.
  • the fact that he was arrested carrying a 9mm handgun and not a .40 S&W. The LAT does not specify if it was, at least, a Glock.

Posted in California Über Alles, Clippings, Guns, Law, Stupid | Comments Closed

Random notes: January 24, 2011.

Monday, January 24th, 2011

Things are still kind of up in the air, but improving slowly. In the meantime, have a handful of random crap:

Your Jack LaLanne obit from the NYT. And from the LAT.

Just for Lawrence, a review of the New World Center, designed by Frank Gehry.

Happy belated birthday, John Moses Browning.

The Pack is back, baby! (Mostly, I’m linking this for the font: may not be valid after 1/24. Did they drag the “Japs Attack Pearl Harbor!” font out of the Linotype case?)

Should General Vang Pao be buried in Arlington?

Posted in Art, Clippings, Gehry, Guns, History, NFL, Obits, Sports | 1 Comment »

A sad end to a sad story.

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

Remember the case of the clerk who shot the beer thief? The one who got eight years probation for his murder and evidence tampering conviction?

Yeah. Well, there’s a follow-up to that story. You see, it turns out that the jury couldn’t do that.

The Texas Legislature took away from juries the ability to sentence murder defendants to probation in 2007. Juan Romero , 24, fatally shot 22-year-old Jorge Vielma at a South Austin Shell station in 2009.

So the judge tossed the verdict, and everybody involved made a deal. Romero pled out to manslaughter instead of murder, and got the same eight year probated sentence.

I would have preferred to see a retrial, and a fight at the appellate level if Romero was convicted again. But I can’t blame Romero and his lawyers for taking the deal.

Posted in Clippings, Guns, Law | Comments Closed

Here I stand; I can do no other.

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

Someone who can claim credit in the comments (or send me an email if they want) suggested a T-shirt:

Front: “One down, 534 to go.”

Back: “Wearing this t-shirt is cause for revoking your civil rights. At least in Massachusetts.”

I don’t have time to work on the design (the personal situation I alluded to in an earlier post is not improving as rapidly as I would like) but if someone does want to take the ball and run with it…I would suggest that any proceeds go into TJIC’s legal fund.

Posted in Guns, Law, Politics | 4 Comments »

Some thoughts on civil rights.

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

We generally do not read the Huffington Post, although we do not react to it in the same way we react to that wretched hive of scum and stupidity known as Salon. However, we wanted to make note of this article, even though it has been thoroughly linked and blogged elsewhere:

…in 1956, after King’s house was bombed, King applied for a concealed carry permit in Alabama. The local police had discretion to determine who was a suitable person to carry firearms. King, a clergyman whose life was threatened daily, surely met the requirements of the law, but he was rejected nevertheless. At the time, the police used any wiggle room in the law to discriminate against African Americans.

We especially wanted to make note of this article in light of another recent event. Supporter and sometime commenter on this blog TJIC had his Massachusetts firearms license suspended over postings on his blog. Yes, you read that correctly: Jay G. has a more detailed account, which also preempts much of the commentary I would otherwise offer on this subject.

TJIC’s commentary may be disagreeable, even reprehensible to some. But if being disagreeable and running contrary to popular opinion was a reason to revoke someone’s civil rights, where would we be today? Jay says it better that we can:

To those of you on the left applauding the actions taken against TJIC: how would you feel if that were a left-wing blogger in Texas getting audited over something unflattering they wrote about GWB three years ago?

Or how does it make you feel to know that Martin Luther King was denied the ability to defend himself and his family, because he was black and unpopular?

The Bill of Rights is a sum-total package; we take all the freedoms enumerated therein or we take none of them. For far too long both the left and the right have views the BoR as a buffet, where some rights are added to the dinner plate with gusto while others are left to languish – or worse, removed entirely from the menu.

Can we get an “Amen!” for Brother Jay?

Posted in Guns, Law, Politics | Comments Closed

TMQ watch: January 18, 2011.

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

Is it possible to be a football atheist? Plus Easterbrookian ignorance about guns and stealing jokes from FARK. All in this week’s TMQ after the jump…

(more…)

Posted in Guns, Media, Music, NFL, Sports, TMQ watch | 5 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »