While Saujani will probably not be educable, a junior Congresswoman from New York with other things on her mind than wrecking the Constitution is a much less a dangerous than a ranking Congresswoman with an agenda.

So I wish Ms. Saujani well in her run for office. And I do hope she will take the time to look at the results of existing restrictive gun laws before the next gun control vote comes up.

Stranger

Of course, we Americans cannot own a new assault weapon, only assault styled weapons. And a plastic stock and extended magazine tube does not turn a 30″ full choke 870 into an assault weapon. Nor is an M-16 assault styled weapon selective fire, full auto, or anything else. Where I came from it is a crow busting cartridge in a military styled firearm.

The “gun show loophole” and the “unlicensed gun dealers” canard has been shot so full of holes it’s not worth comment. I can just imagine Lew Horton or J&G selling any gun to an “unlicensed dealer.” NOT!

At any rate, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has scheduled a hearing on the Senate’s first day of business after the Labor Day recess. So it must be “important” to the Party. Some of whom still believe gun control is a “winning issue.”

The Judiciary Committee lineup is this:

Patrick J. Leahy
Chairman, D-Vermont

Herb Kohl
D-Wisconsin

Jeff Sessions
Ranking Member, R-Alabama

Dianne Feinstein
D-California

Orrin G. Hatch
R-Utah

Russ Feingold
D-Wisconsin

Chuck Grassley
R-Iowa

Arlen Specter
D-Pennsylvania

Jon Kyl
R-Arizona

Chuck Schumer
D-New York

Lindsey Graham
R-South Carolina

Dick Durbin
D-Illinois

John Cornyn
R-Texas

Benjamin L. Cardin
D-Maryland

Tom Coburn
R-Oklahoma

Sheldon Whitehouse
D-Rhode Island

Amy Klobuchar
D-Minnesota

Ted Kaufman
D-Delaware

Al Franken
D-Minnesota

The Constitutionalists are outnumbered 11 to 5, and the Anti-Constitutionalists include Leahy himself, whose public statements against guns have been stronger than his voting record.

And then there are Chucky, whose simpering smirk and voting record is familiar to every informed gun owner and the new chum, Bozo Franken, whose public statements make him Chucky’s ally.

Illinois’ Dicky Durban is on the committee.

As is Kali’s Dianne Feinstein, who wants handgun registration and owner licensing.

And the man who wants to muzzle the NRA, F rated Russ Feingold is on the committee; as is Z rated Benjamin Cardin. Not to mention Old Arlin – who has nothing left to lose; and Sheldon Whitehouse, Amy Klobuchar, and Ted Kaufman. A fine rogues gallery, indeed.

Obviously, the gun control faction holds the majority in the Senate Judiciary Committee. And a majority in both houses of Congress. Equally obviously, it is a reasonable assumption the D’s believe whatever they have in mind is a game changer, and they will make every effort to get a bill out of committee and passed.

So what do we do? CALL YOUR CONGRESSMAN AND BOTH YOUR SENATORS AS SOON AS IT BECOMES CLEAR WHAT THE OBJECT IS TO BE.

And vote! Remember, those hearings will be held on primary day in Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Russ Feingold will learn his political fate, next Tuesday. As will others. So if you live in Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, or Wisconsin, take time to vote. Vote early – and take a crowd of voters to the polls with you. Because the greater the turnout, the more likely the Rogues Gallery will be rejected.

Stranger

UPDATE OF SORTS – No mention of either of next Tuesday’s SJC hearings, “gun commerce” or “rape incidence and reporting” in the news, and my usual source will not be back in DC until Monday. Drat!

S

You can bet that this hearing is not intended to rein in the BATmen. It is far more likely to increase their power, and be intended to close gun dealers. However, we will have to wait and see what Harry Reid and the boys are up to. So far, the target has not been revealed. Except that it will be guns and gun owners. After all, the Senate Judiciary Committee is a Democratic Demesne.

There is supposed to be a webcast, but you will need to get there early if Senate Democrats allow the webcast to continue.

I will post more on this threat as I get it.

Stranger

Briefly quoting the Telegraph item: “Statistics released in November appeared to show 10,000 fewer youngsters aged between 10 and 17 were committing first-time offences.

“The reduction, to 87,367 last year from 97,329 in 2005/6, was heralded as showing the Government’s success in cutting youth crime …..But Mr Morgan said 19,000 young people issued with penalty notices for disorder were deliberately excluded from the figures.”

So crime is up by 10 percent – but eliminating 19,000 disorderly conduct offenses “reduced” crime by 10,000. Uh huh – and elephants can fly, too.

Of course, short reporting has been common in the UK since crime went sky high after England’s first restrictive gun control laws in the aftermath of WWI. On this side of the Atlantic, New York City shorted crime reports after the Sullivan Law was passed.

And one state, New Jersey, takes 60 days to put a homicide on the list to be reported to the FBI – but “cannot list a homicide that occurred last year on this years report!” Smoke and mirrors is not an adequate description of crime reporting in most jurisdictions with restrictive gun controls. A cartoon image of reality would be more like the facts on crime reporting. The same sort of fantasy that allows “An elephant to fly.”

Stranger

It should be obvious that Daley’s announcement will change the entire political landscape – provided another Chicago Machine politician does not replace Daley. It is no secret that Rahm Emanuel wants to be Daley’s replacement. That would be much like trading the devil for the witch, given Emanuel’s stated policies.

There are other Chicago Machine insiders who could take control of the machine. But then, Chicago is in such horrible condition that I doubt that any sane pol would want the job. As the saying goes, “To the victor go the spoils.” But Chicago has been looted so thoroughly and professionally there are few spoils left for the next victor.

Stranger

Lucy Cope, the mother who started the UK’s Mothers Against Guns after her own son was shot to death outside a London night club, was horrified at the thought. “If they’re not doing checks, how to they know the gun is in the house?,” asked Ms. Cope.

For those not familiar with England’s shotgun permits, the fee is more than $150 US Dollars, and your premises are subject to a searching inspection at any time. One of my friends holds a permit for an heirloom Westley Richards sidelock, and recently commented that if he stayed up a bit later than usual watching the telly or having a late smoke before bed he could expect to be knocked up by the local police constable, and his safe searched for both the shotgun and ammunition.

One of his friends had his permit revoked because the inspecting police officer found single fired shotgun shell in a gauge he was not licensed to possess.

And for those not familiar with England’s gun laws, virtually all gun licenses were revoked when gun owners were demonized after the mass murder at Dunblane, Scotland in 1996. Ms. Cope’s gun ban club was formed five years after virtually all rifles and handguns were banned. The death of Cope’s son is proof positive that gun control does not work. Yet, for whatever reason, she is lobbying for an even more rigid gun ban.

How rigid are the UK’s gun bans? Absurdly rigid. So rigid that England’s Olympic shooting teams and pentahaloners had to leave the UK to practice.

Bluntly, England should have a minimum of eight million Brits licensed to carry. If they did, they would not have 11 million plus serious crimes a year. They would have six million. At least fifteen million Britons should enjoy the shooting sports. If they did, the UK would not have 11 million serious crimes a year, they would have three million serious crimes a year. And at least twelve million British families should possess at least one gun. That would drop the UK crime rate to a level comparable to the United States.

Unfortunately, few gun control advocates are rational. And the outrage at the suggestion that a long time shotgun permit holder might be given a pass at inspection time is proof enough that the British gun control advocates are not an exception to the rule. If the United Kingdom is to become safe for human habitation again, the voices of the irrational will have to be ignored.

Stranger

Now, Roger Simon has a revealing post on Soros up at his regular spot on Pajamas Media.

It is well worth the time to click and read. Because there is more to Soros than just gun control. And there is more in Soros background than an Esperanto speaking billionaire who broke the Bank of England. After you read Simon’s post, the sight of Soros wrinkled mug should give you the creeps.

Stranger

BUT! As I recall, the Babylonians were the first to say “Get what the market will bear.” Or at least to write it down where it could be found 3,000 years later.

The actual “price” of a .25 on the street depends entirely on the buyers desperation. If the buyer will pay $500 – that’s the price. If the buyer balks at $50 that may be the going price. For that buyer. And who would pay $500 for a Raven or some other masterpiece in pot metal?

The desperate citizens of cities and states with restrictive gun laws. Chicago for one. The “Second City,” where Lorcins, Ravens and others of that class regularly go for $300 or more. The “Northeastern Corridor,” from Virginia to Massachusetts, is another popular destination for .25′s. And for anything else the illicit gun dealers can buy cheap – to sell high.

Stranger

Unfortunately the Census did not ask how many guns were in the household when they did the 1910 census. In fact, the Census Bureau was not at all nosy in those years, leading to some major gaps in our knowledge.

However, that census found about 92,250,000 Americans, and allowing for the usual undercount, we can safely estimate there were 94,000,000 people living in the United States. Checking the “paper search engine,” my library, reveals there were 20,800,000 households in 1910, for an average household size of 4.56. Which seems reasonable in light of the information linked above.

With that established, how many guns were there? We have a great deal of production information on “respectable gun makers” such as Henry/Winchester, Remington, Savage, Stevens, Fox, and even some smaller makers such as Sharps and Ballard. But how many guns did the smaller companies make? Iver Johnson, Whitney Arms, Quackenbush, and many others made guns. And some, like Whitney, made as many “two dollar pistols” as any of the major makers and more than most. Iver Johnson’s “Owls Head” probably decorated more revolvers than S&W. (And as an aside, I know two people who own one self defense revolver each. Both are marked U.S. Arms, and were made by Whitney. So even two dollar pistols can last a long time.)

From the information I have, the number of guns from “respectable companies” such as Colt, Smith and Wesson, Ansley Fox, Parker, and many others was just under 27 million pieces. The number of cheaply built “hardware store guns” probably doubled that. And of course, there were enough imported shotguns to make “Greener” a byword. To be safe, my “educated guess” is more than fifty million guns, distributed among 21 million households. Or substantially more than two guns for every head of household.

Put another way – the incidence of gun ownership was about the same a century ago as it is in those areas without restrictive laws in place.

Stranger

OOPS – I should have said “Cheaply finished hardware store guns.” Many of those with Belknap or other hardware store names were made well enough, but the metal was polished with a grindstone and the stock finished with brown paint. Ideal for a day in a punt boat, or the survive the vagaries of a day afoot in rough terrain. But they were not highly regarded by those who wanted Circassian walnut stock, 32 line per inch checkering, 50 coats of boiled linseed oil for stock finish, and actions decorated with gold inlaid partridges in flight.

S

I can see it now. The hunting party is up hours before dawn, ready to hike to the overlook where a possible record breaking Dall sheep was spotted. Suddenly, curses come from the ordinarily mild mannered hunter’s tent. The batteries in his boots are dead, and there are no replacements in camp!

Or even worse: It is the end of a long and tiring day. It’s time to pull the boots off and soak the tenderfoot hunters feet. But the batteries in his boots are dead and there are no spares in camp. So for ten long, hard days, the hunter will just have to keep his boots on.

Personally, I think I will stick to conventional boots. The sort I lace myself.

Stranger