A Week's End Tab Clearing

Sometimes there isn't enough time and energy to write about all the stuff you come across. I guess I should do tab clearing posts more often but that would take time and energy. Nothing like a tautology to being the weekend!

Let's start off with something to make you smile and a good reason that politicians should always register domains that have their name in them. Dimitrios Karra of Ares Armor, a gun parts and accessories store, has registered the domain SenatorFeinstein.com which will be a pro-gun site.

In other good news, the Sportsman's Channel will now be broadcasting NRA New's Cam & Co. live every weekday from 5-6pm EST beginning January 15th. This will help broaden the reach of pro-gun rights news. As Cam said about this move on his Facebook page, "It took 20 years, but I can now say I've gone from cable access to a national cable broadcast!" Congratulations and good luck to Cam on this venture.

In guns are icky news, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, a $155 billion pension system, said they will divest all their investments in firearms companies. They have stock in Ruger and Smith and Wesson as well as an investment in Cerberus Capital Management. Their investment totals $11.7 million or 0.00754 percent of their total holdings.  

Michael Z. Williamson's "We need to regulate cars the way we regulate guns" has been making the rounds. He discusses things like the Car Dealer Loophole which allow individuals to sell their cars privately without going through a Federal Automobile Licensee who would conduct a background check through the Federal Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

In an editorial published yesterday in Investor's Business Daily, IBD calls the response by the Obama Administration to Newtown "panicked gun control" that won't stop the violence. As they note, "
Rushing to enact the left's longtime dream of unconstitutional gun control will not save lives. National gun databases would not have saved the victims in Newtown, Aurora or Columbine."

One of the things that reported the Obama Administration is eying is the use of Executive Orders to implement gun control measures. Joe Biden said as much but this article in the Washington Times points out that this is easier said than done.

Writing in the National Review Online's The Corner, Charles C. W. Cooke argues that there is no way that Biden's Gun Violence (sic) Task Force can make any meaningful recommendations about violence where firearms are involved. As he notes, " But if you are earnestly concerned by America’s gun violence, and you are of the view that a concerted effort could actually diminish its frequency, then I’d presume that you might consider just a fortnight’s work on the problem to be somewhat insulting."

Cooke is referring to the announcement by Joe Biden that his task force will deliver its recommendations this coming Tuesday. Biden says that a consensus is emerging to have universal background checks and ban standard capacity magazines. I guess when you start calling gun prohibitionists by the Orwellian term "gun safety groups", you can define consensus any way you want.

Dr. Janet Rosenbaum tries to argue that we should not use the examples of Israel and Switzerland as evidence that armed societies are less violent. Finen Respice shoots holes in her arguments here and her use of flawed statistics. The New York Times last Sunday tried to make similar arguments that more guns equals more killing using international gun control group IANSA and Harvard anti-gun researcher David Hemenway as their sources. They were examining cartel riddled Central and South America as their examples.

In a sign that Vanity Fair should stick to covers of nude pregnant women and who is the best dressed at the Oscars, they ran an article by Kurt Eichenwald suggesting that the Second Amendment be repealed. No offense against Mr. Eichenwald but his very name conjures images of black-shirted Nazi SS troopers kicking down doors after guns. I will say I do like the picture they used to illustrate the article - a classic Vietnam War era M-16 with a pencil barrel, triangular handguards, and no forward assist.

If you are like the millions who head to the coast of South Carolina in the summer for the beach and the sun, here is some good news. Horry County, South Carolina which is home to Myrtle Beach is looking at zoning changes to make the establishment of shooting ranges easier.

Finally, if you believe the AR-15 it too dangerous for the average person to own, then you should read this. It might make you feel better that the White House is having to do damage control over a report in the New York Times that the administration doesn't realistically believe a new AWB is feasible. Just this once, I hope the Times is correct.