Gun Control

The evidence is growing that gun control inhibits growth and jobs:

Ever since Barack Obama was sworn in as president, the economy has misfired. Jobs remain scarce and the market has yet to recover the value it had prior to the 2007 crash. Though Mr. Obama’s policies have unintentionally given a major boost to an industry he hates – firearms – even this one bright spot hasn’t necessarily translated into new employment.

Take Sturm Ruger Co., one of the few publicly traded U.S. gunmakers. Anyone who happened to invest $100 in the firm’s stock on Mr. Obama’s Inauguration Day would have about $532 today. That’s stellar performance in any business climate. According to company filings, Ruger had orders in hand for twice as many guns as it had the capacity to manufacture. Under ordinary circumstances, such sustained demand would be a green light to expand production lines and make new hires.

Unfortunately, Ruger, like most corporations, is afraid of what the Obama administration has up its sleeve. “The company believes that the lawful private ownership of firearms is guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and that the widespread private ownership of firearms in the United States will continue,” Ruger told the Securities and Exchange Commission. “However, there can be no assurance that the regulation of firearms will not become more restrictive in the future and that any such restriction would not have a material adverse effect on the business of the company.” Between 2007 and 2010, Ruger added just 10 employees.

As some states tighten their gun control laws gun manufacturers look at moving to states that are friendlier to their industry:

The regulation-minded states need to realize what Florida and Virginia already understand. Firearms sales and ownership are at an all-time high, while crime remains at an all-time low. Gun control doesn’t save lives or reduce crime; it just destroys jobs. Federal and state lawmakers could give the economy a real stimulus by repealing these obnoxious statutes once and for all.

“If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.”

The Dalai Lama, (May 15, 2001, The Seattle Times) speaking at the “Educating Heart Summit” in Portland, Oregon, when asked by a girl how to react when a shooter takes aim at a classmate.

Is this a case of video games kill, guns kill or stupid parents kill?

Mistaking a loaded gun for a video game controller, a 3-year-old in Tennessee accidentally shot and killed herself, officials said.

Cheyenne Alexis McKeehan of Norene, Tenn., shot herself Sunday night after her stepfather left his loaded Smith & Wesson handgun out on a table, Wilson County Sheriff Terry Ashe said.

Cheyenne’s mother told police officers that the child was used to playing a shooting game with the Nintendo Wii video game console and likely confused the real gun with the realistic-looking black toy gun, the sheriff said.

“The unfortunate thing is that this Nintendo game called Wii had what looks like a solid black, basically automatic-looking type mechanism that operates the game,” he said. “Unfortunately, the stepdad also had a .380 caliber black Smith & Wesson. The child was used to playing the video game.”

Clearly a case of stupid parents, removing a lovely but stupid child from the gene pool. Oh and don’t come at me with the “if there wasn’t a gun there she wouldn’t have died” crap. I’ve told you before Guns don’t kill People, Stupid People kill People. The step-father was the one who killed her not the gun, the gun is a piece of inert metal until a person picks it up and operates it. Gun Control as thought of here won’t stop criminals getting and using guns, but it will stop stupid people killing themselves or their loved ones.

The Four Rules
1. All firearms are always loaded
2. Never let the muzzle of a firearm point at anything you are not willing to destroy
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot
4. Be sure of your target and what is behind it

The Police decided that sporting versions of Military Style Semi-Automatic Assault Rifles need reclassification, presumibly from a D A category to a C E category, which would have necessitated the registering of every one of the re-classified rifles and increased security.

A rifle owner asked for a Judicial review of the Police decision and has found, thankfully, that the Police were wrong in law by unilaterally deciding for themselves about the re-classification.

Laws are written by parliament, enforced by the Police and interpreted by the judiciary. Thankfully the High Court Judge in this instance knows where the boundaries lie and knows how to read a rather simple law. Hopefully he will recommended that the Police responsible be forced to take remedial reading classes.

Now in the unlikely event you believe the bunkum posted by Pol Pot supporter Keith Locke, and we all know what happened to the disarmed population of Cambodia, have a check of some basic facts about one rifle in question.

The owner, Richard Lincoln, the National Shooters Association president, owns a Heckler & Koch SL8 rifle. Personally I think they are ugly and heavy, but each to their own. Now a quick check of Wikipedia confirms what I suspected;

To adapt the SL8 for the civilian market, the pistol grip and folding stock of the G36 have been replaced by a fixed stock with a thumbhole, and the receiver has been modified to prevent attachment of the G36 folding stock. In addition, to comply with the Gun Control Act of 1968 (as presently construed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms or ATF) SL8 rifles exported to the United States have been modified so that they will not accept staggered, normal-capacity 20 and 30 round G36 magazines. U.S. SL8 rifles accept only a single-column, 10-round magazine. Other modifications have been made to the SL8 including a lightened trigger pull, adjustable cheekpiece and buttplate to customize the fit to the user, and a heavier, more accurate barrel. The SL8 does not come with the carry handle and built in optics of the G36, although these can be purchased aftermarket and fitted to the weapon.

Many parts from the G36 series can be fitted to the SL8, but the pistol grip and folding stock cannot be used without modification.

Got that, this is a rifle that is purely and simply a sport version of a standard issue German Army rifle. The Police in New Zealand however decided that they knew better than manufaturer’s own design specifications and unilaterally declared that this rifle was an MSSA. The High Court Judge has disabused the Police of the notion that it is they who write the laws of this country.

The Police also neglect to observe that changing the law will NOT prevent people like Jan Molenaar from obtaining the weapons that they want. They are criminals and laws are ignored by such people. Thus Gun Control laws only succeed is dis-arming the law-abiding and enabling the law-less.

I might point out that in the USA the state with the lowest gun related crime are those with Open-Carry laws. That is you are legally able to carry a firearm as long as it is clearly visible to the general public. basically a criminal will NOT attempt to rob you if there is a high chance of him being shot by a person who is probably more trained and accurate than he is. They go for the soft targets, the unarmed citizen. There is a reason why the second Amendment of the United States of America retains, and continues to retain the right of the people to “keep and bear arms”. It has been challenged and never altered. The first amendment of course the right to freedom of speech. Basically the eminent fathers of the Constitution knew you can’t have one without a safe guard against a government trying to dominate or restrict unduly the population.

Bill Ralston: Hippo dee doo dah, hippo … – I have always been fond of the hippos at Auckland Zoo. They have the kind of sedentary lifestyle I wish I could enjoy. They lie almost all day virtually fully submerged in giant baths, with only their eyes, nose and ears protruding,… [NZ Politics]

Bill Ralston talks about Hippo’s, crap and the Greens. He is less than enthused about Wussel Norman’s attack on Snorkel the Hippo (no I’m not talking about Porkchop).

It is very funny.

One thing I learned at an early age when the Hippos were a lot closer than they now are at Auckland Zoo is that when their tail starts spinning exiting the viewing platform is not only wise but essential. I have even taught my kids this as the tail gives you an early warning of the immense spray of shit that is coming your way.

I have seen many a punter covered from head to toe while we pointed and laughed having narrowly missed the shower of shit because of the early warning signal.

Gathering storm beneath Beehive’s quiet – Columns and commentary – The Dominion Post

Vernon Small has an article in today’s DomPost that has some interesting rumours if true plus he covers the deja vu feeling seasoned politico’s are having with 1990 and 1999.

Even so, the public is not as black on the Government as it was during other recent sea-changes, in 1990 and 1999.

In 1990 the policy prescription was so hated, and the incoming Government was hinting at – but in the end not delivering – a turn away from the Rogernomics revolution.

In 1999 it was the nature of the Government – propped up by discredited defections from NZ First – and a general lack of trust that propelled National out of office, though it is a closer parallel with 2008 than is 1990.

Like the Shipley Government, the third-term Clark administration has a serious image problem. As I noted in this column last week, changing perceptions and image is a harder ask than changing laws. But National’s clothes-swapping race to adopt Labour’s most popular policies – expect a near-complete acceptance of Kiwisaver and Working for Families soon to complete the wardrobe – suggests it is not the policy mix that is at issue. In a funny way it is not the personnel either, despite Miss Clark’s slide in popularity in the Fairfax Media-Nielsen poll at the weekend.

She was still on 29 per cent as preferred prime minister and no other Labour politician was on the radar. Phil Goff may be the heir apparent, but he does not register in the way John Key did before the coup that took out Don Brash.

Is John Key the problem?, probably not as Vernon notes because his own popularity although higher than any previous opposition leader is still not above his own party’s popularity. Now Vernon get’s to the delicious rumours that are swirling around Wellington.

Could it be that Labour’s biggest problem is that it has lost its ability to sell its own message? Or is it, as most commentators have come to believe, just the unstoppable demand for change? If it is, then the game is up. If it isn’t, then an improved election-year sales effort and a new range of sausages (could somebody please get me out of this metaphor) give some straws for Labour to clutch at.

Excuse the indelicate segue, but last week’s events have left a large number of straws still blowing in the wind for Labour. Why did Labour president Mike Williams fuel the piffling Glenn story by offering his resignation – then let his offer seep into the media, where it could only add to the sense that there was something seriously wrong?

When asked last week if he was staying on, he said, “In the short term”, before quickly catching himself and saying, “In a short conversation” with the prime minister. Is he planning to step down at the election (or as is rumoured even earlier), along with the expected retirement of party secretary Mike Smith, to allow a new leadership team at both the party and caucus level (assuming Labour does not recover the Treasury benches)?

Add to that Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union secretary Andrew Little’s decision not to run for Parliament this term – but his continued interest in politics at the highest level – and it is easy to see who might be lining up as the next Labour president.

Even if there is not a new president, there are mounting calls within the party for a change of campaign manager. Some still blame a flawed start to the 2005 election fight on Miss Clark’s chief of staff Heather Simpson – and there is no desire to repeat the experience.

It may seem quiet in the Beehive, but there is a gathering mood for change at the very apex of Labour’s tree.

Williams, Simpson . . . only Clark seems immune at the moment.

I smell blodd and quite a lot of it. The thing about Labour Party coups is that they are always messy and never help the party. Certainly there is the scent of blood about them now.

Netball: Aussies triumph at World Champs (+photos) – 17 Nov 2007 – NZ Herald: New Zealand and International Sport News coverage

Sheesh would she just stay away from sport, for the sake of the country, just stay the heck away.

Helen Clark has again put the mockers on a New Zealand Sports team, this time the Silver Ferns.

She killed off our America's Cup chances, strangled the All Blacks and tonight she got the trifecta and watched the Silver Ferns lose to the Aussies.

If I was the organiser of a major sports event or NZ Team and the Dear Leader said she wanted tickets i would find an excuse, any excuse to tell her to take a hike.

Perhaps she could go and pay a last minute visit to Kevin Rudd to "assist" his election chances.

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