Just because the magic number regarding magazine size is 10 (and anything more than that is an evil assault high ammunition magazine clip) doesn’t mean that they’ll ever decide that 10 is too many.
Category: Legislature
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Gun Bills Filed in Tennessee Legislature
House members are limited to sponsoring 15 bills this year, because…well no one’s really sure. Anyway, here’s what’s been filed:
HB 0010 by *Faison: As introduced, prohibits the allocation of state or local public funds to the regulation or enforcement of any federal law, executive order, rule or regulation that becomes effective on or after January 1, 2013, that imposes restrictions on citizens who lawfully possess or carry firearms in this state; allows the allocation of state or local personnel or property to such regulation or enforcement if federal funding is provided.
SB 0012 by *Kelsey: As introduced, for purposes of criminal code, expands the definition of serious bodily injury to include any bodily injury that involves a wound from a firearm.
SB 0022 by *Tracy: As introduced, authorizes administrative law judges to carry firearms subject to training and certification requirements.
So what we have is a big eff you to any new gun control measures coming from DC (which will have exactly as much effect as the Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act), classifying a grazing birdshot wound as “serious bodily harm” even though the harm may not actually be serious, and allowing the judges that determine whether or not you get Social Security Disability payments to be classified as “law enforcement officers,” granting them badge-and-gun status.
These are just the bills that were filed in the initial session, usually reserved for rule setting and committee assignments. More to come, I’m sure (especially since Hardaway hasn’t filed any sort of “gun owners must wear a gold star on their sleeves” legislation yet).
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Here we go
White House endorses banning private firearm sales (which the Newtown Nutjob didn’t use) and normal capacity magazines.
Let’s see if the GOP has any backbone. I’m not hopeful.
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Deterrence is not prevention
Yesterday, the President said this:
We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change. We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. No single law—no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world, or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society.
But that can’t be an excuse for inaction. Surely, we can do better than this. If there is even one step we can take to save another child, or another parent, or another town, from the grief that has visited Tucson, and Aurora, and Oak Creek, and Newtown, and communities from Columbine to Blacksburg before that—then surely we have an obligation to try.
There is one step we can take. We know it works every time.
We know the formula these shootings follow. They stop immediately when met with armed resistance. It happens every time.
We know it works. It’s an easy step. It’s laid out right in front of you.
In the coming weeks, I will use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens—from law enforcement to mental health professionals to parents and educators—in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this. Because what choice do we have? We can’t accept events like this as routine. Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?
Making sure it’s harder for me to protect myself, my family, and random strangers who might be in the area from lunatics and psychopaths who are not deterred by “gun free zones” is the only thing that makes me “powerless in the face of such carnage.”
I am disempowered by fiat. Remove the limits on me protecting myself and these things will cease happening.
What people like Dianne Fienstein et al are proposing are “deterrents” to ownership by people who wouldn’t do this sort of thing in the first place. They do nothing to prevent these shootings. They didn’t work in Germany, or Britain, or Norway, or Mumbai.
You can’t stop crazy.
You can, however, change how you react. If more of these guys were put down by good guys before the body count hit double digits, two things would happen:
1: The “glory” of high body counts would cease to be a motivating factor.
2: Fewer people would die
Isn’t that the goal? Don’t we want the same thing?
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Post Election Activities
I took the day after Barackalypse off. I had planned to for a long time because either way the election went I was gonna be hung over.
So yesterday basically went like this:
Wake up an hour later than normal since the kids slept in, too.
Walk the dog, shower, talk to my brother in law about panic-buying 5.56.
Get some Starbucks.
Take my son to daycare.
Then I drove past about 12 gas stations to the only one in town that sells ethanol-free gas and filled up my tank.
From there, I went to go see Atlas Shrugged Part II. It was a last-minute decision. On a Wednesday afternoon showing 4 weeks after opening, the theater had about 30 people in it. I found that telling.
After the movie, I went to The Nashville Armory. I’d been before just to check out the facilities, but this time I actually used them. After going to the Appleseed event, I bought this scope
and these rings
to go on the M&P15-22. So now, instead of it matching up with my M4gery, it looks like this:
Tactical Dog approves.
I spent about 30 rounds getting it zeroed to 25 yards, but I’m going to need another session with it. It’s close, but not close enough for the Appleseed. I had to shoot on a pistol lane because the rifle lanes were reserved for a party.
I also ran a few rounds through my PF9 and my G23, as well as my M&P22 pistol with the can on it. At 25 yards, I was able to put 5 rounds center-mass on a silhouette in about 5 seconds with the PF9. Not bad for a shitty mousegun.
Did some other drills, too, just to make sure I haven’t gotten too rusty.
The facility is great, and the people are all professionals. I haven’t run into a gun-counter-moron yet over there. My former favorite range burned down last week, and this one is closer, so I think it’s my new home range.
Anyway, left there and went home. Fed the boy, played with the dog, had dinner, watched Revolution
, and went to sleep.
Today I feel much better. Still crappy, but much better.
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Embody loses again
Leonard Embody has lost yet another appeal regarding his detainment in a Nashville park. As it turns out, if you intentionally act suspicious in order to get the police called on you, you don’t get to complain that the police are called.
There was a new tidbit I hadn’t heard before:
A good part of the detention, moreover, came at the beck and call of Embody, who asked to speak to the police supervisor, even after being told it would delay his release.
They held him for two and a half hours. I’ve personally heard him complain that two and a half hours is an excessive amount of time if all they need to do is check to make sure the pistol is a pistol. I agree.
He neglected to mention that he intentionally prolonged the stop.
Stay classy, Leonard.
You can read the opinion here.
For his troubles, Embody has done something rare: He has taken a position on the Second and Fourth Amendment that unites the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Second Amendment Foundation. Both organizations think that the park ranger permissibly disarmed and detained Leonard Embody that day, notwithstanding his rights to possess the gun. So do we.
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And that’s the ballgame for the next two years
The chief reason the Tennessee Firearms Association and the NRA went after TN House Caucus Chair Debra Maggart was because she prevented every gun bill that made it out of committee from being heard on the house floor. Presumably, this was on orders from Speaker Harwell. Maggart was primaried because she spent so much time working with us to get a Republican Majority, only to cast us aside once she actually got it. Harwell has never been a friend to gun owners, and never pretended to be, so her stance didn’t shock us. With Maggart, it was personal.
Maggart wasn’t the only incumbent Republican who lost their primary. Seven other incumbents are looking for new work today.
Speaker Harwell narrowly defeated conservative Glen Casada for the speaker position two years ago, so there was a good chance that he would win this year.
Except he’s decided not to challenge Harwell. That’s unfortunate, because it means that we likely won’t get much done in the next two years with Harwell as speaker.
I guess I’ll be spending the next two years working on someone to primary her–unless she changes her spots.
Oh, and Gerald McCormick? Don’t think we’ve forgotten about you. We watch the news, you know.
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“It’s not like you’re going to start voting Democrat over this”
It’s been reported that TN House Republican Caucus Leader Debra Maggart said this to some TFA folks when they expressed their displeasure at her blocking gun rights bills last session.
Well, Debra, you’re right. We probably wouldn’t start voting for Democrats.
Have fun in retirement! The NRA and TFA set an example with you. We are not kidding.
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Help me get the word out about state-level organizations
As non-RSS readers may have noticed, I now have a link on the sidebar to join the NRA*. While I have had some criticism for their marketing plan in the past, I still think it’s a valuable organization–especially at the federal level.
As a long-time member of the Tennessee Firearms Association, I have seen first hand the immense value that state level organizations have. Robb has, too.
So I am aware of the TFA, Florida Carry, CalGuns, the Illinois State Rifle Association, and The Texas State Rifle Associaion. Other states, not so much.
I could Google “$state gun rights” but I might end up with false-flag or fringe operations, so I’m asking readers to point me to the right place. I want to have a page here that lists all the state organizations to make it easy for newbies to find.
If you know a state organization, please leave a comment with the name and URL. I appreciate it!
*If you join via that link or the link in the sidebar, you’ll get $10 off a 1 year subscription.
