They have a site too called GunBanObama.

I hope all my readers have a good 4th of July where ever they might live.

G.o.D.’s tune Cry Freedom seems appropriate for this day. In more ways than one for me.

Update: Naturally a British journo has to have a go at US gun laws on the 4th. Typical kind of sneering anti-Americanism we have come to expect from First Post.

I was having a chat with a few friends Saturday night about the spate of knife violence in London as compared to “shootings” in several American cities. I pointed out to them that is probably better to be shot at if you don’t want to die. Its bloody hard to hit a moving target especially if you are moving as well. (That is why innocents get a hit a lot of the time.)

While being knifed is a much more intimate affair and one is more likely to meet a dire end like the poor chap in Islington Saturday night. Its a hell of a lot harder to miss/hit something vital if you are standing less than a foot away than from 20 yards with a gun. Just because everyone in the movies is a crack shot does mean its so in real life. Pulling out a knife and using it against someone shows quite a bit of commitment to harm as well.

Shockingly the Supreme Court of the US got something right for a change. They have declared the DC gun ban as unconstitutional. The NRA are now going to challenge the other cities that have these obviously unconstitutional bans on their citizens. Cue the ignorant articles in the UK media about this.

From Ted Nugent who else? Get it here.

Picture of a Chicago street captured on Google Earth. Some think it shows a young man with a gun, but I’m not so sure.

It certainly looks like he’s pointing something, and the reaction of the child on the sidewalk—who looks startled, and in the midst of breaking into a run—leans to that interpretation. But trying to determine what, if anything, is in the boy’s hand is a bit trickier.

For one thing, it appears to be bright white in color. It could be nickel-plated, and catching the light at an odd angle, but there’s no metallic glint that I can see.

Furthermore, if it is a gun, what is he aiming at? If you go into Google Earth (it’s been a while since I last used it, but I don’t think there’s anything to install. I certainly haven’t on this relatively-new computer) at this link and pan and zoom around.

The little girl (?) on the sidewalk doesn’t appear to be a target; as best as I can see, the “gunboy” is pointing at something parallel to it. There are some people on a staircase about 50 or 60 feet ahead; but they, too, are out of the line of fire (and it’s not exactly optimum pistol-shooting range).

But follow the path of the Google camera as it travels south on the street. The first photo shows the boy behind the vehicle. The second shows the “shooting” pose. In the third, he looks like he is talking to the child, and his “gun” hand is nowhere to be seen.

So, in conclusion: No harm; no foul. Of course, if you’ve spotted something I’ve missed, I’m certain the Chicago Police would be delighted to hear from you. (Please don’t mention my name.)

the blog québécois

As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher’s Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around… per the Watcher’s instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.

Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.

Obama was taking the piss out of Hilary about her duck hunting tales. He claimed she would head out “with a six shooter” to hunt ducks. Would anyone actually hunts ducks with a six shooter? Surely its more a shotgun type of hunting. I guess you might be able to hit a duck with a scoped revolver, but it would be bloody hard. And if you hit the thing wouldn’t a normal slug pulverise the duck?

Is this another example of how out of touch Obama is with middle America?

BTW: Is he a marxist?

Jimmy Carter in a letter to sister-in-law Sybil (widow of brother Billy):

Lamentably, I killed your cat while trying just to sting it. It was crouched, as usual, under one of our bird feeders & I fired from some distance with bird shot. It may ease your grief somewhat to know that the cat was buried properly with a prayer & that Ill be glad to get you another of your choice.

I called & came by your house several times. We will be in the Dominican Republic until Thursday. Ill see you then.

Love, Jimmy

Idiot. Bird shot is a rather poor choice to “sting” a cat with. Rock salt I could see (and in nothing bigger than a .410-gauge); better still a Super Soaker with half-a-cup of ammonia or bleach added to the water. Further story here.

the blog québécois

A low point in their otherwise quality short video/adverts releases. This one is pretty dire it has to be said and continues in a rather “white man’s guilt” attitude towards the region.

Surely this is just a wee bit patronising to Africans? If the nice white man does not help them they are too stupid not buy small arms and kill each other.

The trick to stopping these wars is not to limit the legitimate arms trade (because the illigitimate one will just fill the gap) but to try to get these people to stop wanting to kill each other.

This video comes across as yet another patronising elitist bit of preaching.

As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher’s Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around… per the Watcher’s instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.

Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.

Remember a few truths: Violent crime is on the rise in the UK, including gun crime, while it falls in the US. This is despite there is a total ban in the UK on guns for citizen. There are places in Glasgow where the male life expectancy is lower than the Gaza strip. Oh yes and one last thing…those those who perpetated 7/7 and attempted it on 7/21 didn’t have to use any guns. And these individuals were born and bred in Britain as well. Then again neither did all those gangs who executed people with knives.

Samizdata has a piece on recent bill to allow VA students to protect themselbes that was defeated to great appreciation of the university authorities. Here is more on that story.

Oh yes and the shooter was not an American but an Asian. If in fact he is a South Korean national and not an American then he would have acquired the guns illegally thus discussion of American guns laws is irrelevant.

And now we have Martin Popelwell on Sky praising Bowling for Columbine while talking out of his arse about guns in the US. He sneered about a homeowner he supped with who showed off his guns, securely held in a safe, to him.

Sky managed to find all the pro-gun-grabber comments and not read out one of those critical of their reporting. Sky is behaving like the BBC on this one. Its very disappointing to see such biased reporting from Sky. There is some more bleating in the First Post about this event. When will British journalists realise that Americans could give a damn what they think about American law? With any luck this attempted meddling will have the same affect and Guardian’s attempt to influence the last US Presidential election.

Methinks the reason they are not using Fox’s feed is that it might not have the right tone for Sky.

If you want non-gloating and unbiased coverage of this event head to Fox News who have plenty of video on their site.

Oh nice, now that its been determined the evil scumbag who did this was South Korean, that country’s representatives are whining about potential racism. What class they have that lot.

Heroism in the face of death from a Holocaust survivor remembered nicely over at Simply Jews.

Not wanting to be left out Gerald Kaufman MP does not hesitate to have a bash at American culture as well as movies.

The Daily Ablution has a cracking interview with author Michael Critchton. Rather than centering on his popular novels and movie adaptions he is chatting to Scott about the state of politics in the world with especially emphasis on envirofascism.

The piece which is worth reading ends with a rather poignant observation of the biggest threat in the world today. I would be shocked if readers of this blog would disagree with his thoughts.

Not the most prolific Scott, but still worth a daily visit that is for sure.

On another note, this is good explanation of the right to bear arms.

For this post I have been asked why some states don’t allow tasers and other types of non-lethal defence but do allow guns. Of course, in UK no one is allowed any type of defence whatsoever except for the police and the more & more heavily armed criminals. In fact there have been cases of people persecuted prosecuted for defending themselves with wait for it…”unreasonable force.” Some bastard is trying to kill you but if you kill him or serious injure him its unreasonable. The British public are actually waking up to this fact and there is growing pressure to change the law.

Surely tazers and other such gadgets like mace pepper spray should be legal for self-defence in all states? Surely its a better idea to allow people to have some self-defence rather than a gun (or a knife) or nothing? This is a question of rational governance it has to be said, not that its that common, and a law that certainly should be changed. This is important for women who don’t want go via the concealed carry route or are sheepish about carrying a gun.

As with many things this is a clear case where the potential should have more rights than they perpetrator of the crime. This post is sponsored btw.

No not the movie; the real thing. While I am not a hunter, not living in Maine most of my life, I rather enjoy reading and eating the results of hunting. Kim & I saw a huge moose on a trailer as we were driving though Boothbay. It just made us both hungry. Deer season is almost upon and you might want to check out this deer hunting guide for tips. If you are keen on going somewhere how about an organised guided deer hunt in some good area for deer. There is also some good info on hunting for whitetail deer. Those pics below here just make me hungry for deer meat.

As you lot probably know I am fond of the 2nd Amendment in the US and quite enjoy going out with my lawyer and shooting his guns at his local range. I have posted shots of me on this blog firing a myriad of weapons; well not as often as some bloggers but whenever I go shooting. Quite often I get into discussions on the gun law in the US & the UK on both sides of the Atlantic. One subject that comes up quite a bit is keeping guns out of the hands of criminals. Right now in the UK they criminals are armed and the populace has been disarmed. Surprisingly, to the politicians at least, the rate of gun crime has shot up.

It bothers some people that hunting is regarded as a sport – I have used the category to label this post – but unquestionably, the skills, training and character that is often required in hunting game bring out the sort of qualities one associates with many sports. This article about hunting in Texas, written at the blog of my U.S. pal Russell Whitaker, is a fine read. Lots of good advice on it, too.

Colby burst that bubble and exposes the gun-crime obsessed goverment.

Heather always liked this picture of me with the Bushmaster.

I rather enjoyed that day of shooting with my lawyer David. I look forward to returning to Maine and letting lose on a few inanimate objects at the Lewiston range. The fact that MB liked the picture makes it an even more pleasant memory.

Hey it ain’t just Ted Nugent who likes a bit o’ shootin’ and rockin’.

The ArmaLite Sisters of the Blessed Winchester on maneuvers.

the blog québécois

The GoD:blog is up and going. As we develop the site, we are using the blog as a place keeper to let people know what we are up to. Once the site is done, the blog will merge into the site.

Considering we are talking about Hunter S. Thompson it is hardly surprising that it is exactly what he did.

Not strictly speaking music news – but definitely of interest to the music world – American counterculture writer Hunter S Thompson has been found dead in his Colorado home – it seems the 67 year old shot himself.

Best known for ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’, of course, Thompson pioneered so called “gonzo journalism”, factual writing where the writer is an essential part of the story. His other books included ‘Hells Angels’ and
‘Generation of Swine’.

In a statement to the Aspen Daily News, Thompson’s son Juan said: “On February 20, Dr Hunter S Thompson took his life with a gunshot to the head at his fortified compound in Woody Creek, Colorado. Hunter prized his privacy and we ask that his friends and admirers respect that privacy as well as that of his family.”

Confirming the suicide reports a spokesman for the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office told reporters: “We do have confirmation that Hunter Thompson was found dead this evening of an apparent self-inflicted wound”.

Author Martin A Lee, who met and interviewed Thompson on a number of occasions, told Radio 4’s Today programme that Thompson’s suicide was “sad” but “not surprising”, adding that the writer “lived on the edge”. He added: ”[Thompson] did bequeath a very significant body of literature and journalism. It is wonderful and exuberant writing that opened a cultural
space for other writers to follow”.

From: CMU

“For a handful of students at the University of Maine, buying textbooks, fine-tuning class schedules and checking in weapons are all normal parts of their back-to-school routine. Student hunters, martial arts enthusiasts and paint-ball fiends are welcome to live on campus or in fraternity and sorority houses, but they must lock their weapons up at the UMaine Department of Public Safety, where a room is earmarked for that purpose. ... [A] 2003 nationwide poll of 150 schools showed that UMaine is one of only 11 schools that has storage facilities for guns on campus, according to Alliance for Justice, an association of advocacy organizations.” (09/03/04)

This bit of Maine oddity comes via Rational Review. This makes perfect sense because the Orono campus is quite literally on the edge of Maine civilisation.

“Disabled gun control activist Jim Brady weighed in Wednesday on Republican U.S. Senate nominee Alan Keyes’ declaration that the U.S. Constitution grants private citizens the right to own and carry machine guns, calling the remarks an ‘insane’ call for a return to ‘the Al Capone days.’ ... Keyes, a former presidential candidate from Maryland, said Tuesday he supports a system in which people undergo different levels of training before they would be allowed to own and carry various sorts of weapons. Keyes said the Second Amendment grants properly trained Americans the right to ‘the kind of weapons our ordinary infantry people have access to,’ including machine guns.” (08/26/04)

This latest bit of Brady inanity comes via Rational Review. Keyes is a strict constructionalist, and Brady could care less about the Constitution. It’s a shame Brady got shot, but his campaign against guns is idiotic, inane, and wrong.

In a piece of brilliant idiocy the Greeks are baning guards from carrying guns when protecting atheletes. Not only have they imposed this breath-takingly stupid ban, but they are telling the world’s media about it. I mean, what next? Inviting Al Queda to attack their games? I wonder if these nitwits have ever heard of Munich?

As I have said before I am very glad none of my friends or family are atheletes or plan to attend the games.

Unless this rule is changed I think countries most at risk should boycott the games.

If you were in charge of security for your country would you trust Greek security measures?

Not content with causing havoc here and on Blogcritics, I have managed to cause a row over what defines zerg in Shadowbane. It was not my attention but it has gotten so bad the thread has been shut down.

This is a surveillance video of a convenience store.

Watch would-be robber enter, pull gun, fumble gun onto the counter right into the hands of the clerk. Watch would-be robber make speedy exit.

“About 2,000 people celebrated Mother’s Day yesterday by attending a Million Mom March rally at the Capitol to demonstrate support for extending the nation’s ban on assault weapons. The crowd gathered on the West Lawn of the Capitol for speeches by figures such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who called for intervention by President Bush to continue the federal ban on ‘military-style’ weapons, such as AK-47s. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy [D-NY], who entered politics after her husband was killed in the 1993 Long Island Rail Road shooting by Colin Ferguson, urged the crowd to pressure their congressmen to extend the gun ban. ‘Let’s make this land safe for our police officers, our children, our moms and dads,’ McCarthy said. ‘Let’s go out, and get them.’ The prohibition of the sale and manufacture of assault weapons is set to expire in September.” (05/10/04)

Via: Rational Review

Funny enough this ban on assault weapons has done nothing to stop the criminals from getting them. But then, participants to MMM don’t really care about facts, do they? Of course some of them are just authoritarian thugs.

I’ve been wrestling with a wonky optical mouse all day, and I’m mad enough by now to shoot something.

This looks like a fairly realistic simulation of a shooting range. And this is a nifty set of Counterstrike-styled settings.

But I can’t seem to hit anything, because of this stupid mouse.

Grrr. How about I get a real gun and shoot the damned mouse?