Depends on Just Where You're Talking About, Doesn't It?

Via Keepandbeararms.com:

Lectures analyze America’s gun culture

Nationally recognized experts are examining key issues on gun crime, a widespread and growing problem, in a three-part lecture and discussion series, titled “Guns, Crime, and Punishment in America,” at the University’s Law School.

"Widespread and growing"? In England, maybe. Well, it is widespread here, but it's been shrinking since 1991. Unless you believe the newspapers who have devoted more and more coverage to it. It's not widespread in England, but it's absolutely growing there - in the home of the most restrictive firearms laws in the free world, and a place that didn't have a "gun culture" until after they started banning stuff.

I HATE Registration

And I HATE government confiscation of property.

See this story about a man who just received a Presidential pardon. You can bet your ass he didn't get his boat or his rifle back.

Dentist Convicted Of Transporting Automatic Weapon

A man who pleaded guilty to transporting an automatic weapon in 1987 was pardoned by President George W. Bush, the Justice Department announced Thursday.

Fort Lauderdale dentist Bruce Louis Bartos, 60, said he pleaded guilty to the charge of transporting an automatic weapon on his 45-foot fishing boat because he had two children in college, had just lost his wife to cancer and did not want to go to trial.

And lose everything he had, and probably go to jail. That's the big stick the government hangs over the heads of nominally law-abiding citizens who just didn't know the law or failed to cross some "t" or dot some "i". Ayn Rand got it dead to rights:

There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one “makes” them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted -- and you create a nation of law-breakers -- and then you cash in on the guilt.

Bartos said he was unaware at the time that his AR-15 - the civilian version of the M-16 military assault rifle - was illegal without a permit. He used the rifle, along with a handgun and other weapons, for protection from drug dealers and pirates when boating between South Florida and the Bahamas, he said.

"CIVILIAN VERSION" That means SEMI-AUTOMATIC. It's a big distinction. Just ask the Violence Policy Center.

Now I cannot imagine a more appropriate firearm for defense against piracy - and piracy does occur in those waters. All he had it for was self-defense, but like Mr. Campbell in the post below, he's the one victimized by the government. Read on.

Bartos agreed to plead guilty and forfeit his boat in return for two years' probation.

What did the government need with his boat? We're talking about a paperwork omission. Do they take your house if you fail to register your car?

I'd say the government "cashed in" on Mr. Bartos's "guilt." I wonder if a government employee now owns a 45' fishing boat he got at a really good price.

"I pleaded guilty and lost my boat over a stupid $200 or $300 dollar gun," he said. "And for $200 I could have had a permit."

THEY STOLE HIS BOAT OVER A $200 TAX. And that, my friends, is what registration is good for - aside from confiscation of guns, which I'm sure they also did. I doubt he got to keep any of his guns.

Bartos later began to challenge his conviction by filing clemency requests and having character references sent to the Department of Justice on his behalf. He hired a Washington lawyer, and hoped to be among those pardoned before President Bill Clinton left office.

Sorry Mr. Bartos, but you weren't a big Clinton campaign contributor (or big enough criminal) were you?

When he found out about the pardon Wednesday he became "breathless, speechless."

I'm a little surprised myself. I expect the Deep Space Nine to make hay over Bush pardoning an "assault weapon smuggler" or some such quite soon.

"Someone in the Justice Department read my file and basically felt that I had really received a raw deal, and that it should never have been handled this way," Bartos said.

Even though only close friends and advocates knew about his conviction, the pardon came as a great relief.

"It gives me the ability to hold my head up high, like I'm a full fledged citizen of this country," he said.

You just got reamed by the government of this country, and they had the courtesy to kiss you afterward. That is all.

A U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman in Miami did not have any comment on the pardon.

No, I bet they didn't.

Does this restore all his rights? Was it a felony conviction? Could it have resulted in a sentence of more than one year (or was there a sentencing guidline at all?)

Did the pardon come with the keys to his boat?

Enquiring minds want to know.

UPDATE: According to this story:

Bartos said his boat was stopped and searched when he returned from a family trip to Bimini in 1986. On board he had an AR-15, the civilian version of the M-16 military assault rifle, which Bartos said he carried for protection.

The gun was tested at the FBI lab and deemed to be automatic, which is illegal.

Illegal without the $200 "tax". I should have recognized that just by the reference to the $200 requirement. (Then again, his assertion that it was a $200-300 rifle is in error. Even in 1986 a full-auto AR-15 would have been worth over a thousand dollars. A semi-auto version would be worth more than $500.) I assume that Mr. Bartos's AR-15 had M-16 parts installed in it, which is a no-no. But I stand by my objection: Taking someone's hundred-thousand dollar boat over a $200 tax omission is excessive punishment.

Some are More Equal

Ran across this story this evening, and found this part to be fascinating:

Kenneth Moose, 39, a longtime twin borough resident who now lives in Bridgewater Township, is a former Far Hills police sergeant who, earlier this year, was cleared of charges that he illegally possessed an assault firearm.

--

Moose, 39, served for 14 years with the Far Hills Borough before retiring in December 2002.

Moose's fitness for police duty was called into question in October 2002, when he was arrested for possessing an M-1 Carbine, a World War II-era firearm classified as a prohibited assault weapon under a 1990 New Jersey law. He had received the .30-caliber semi-automatic weapon from a local resident in September 1990, four months after the assault weapons ban was enacted.

Which makes me wonder what happened to the "local resident" who violated the law by possessing the M1 Carbine four months after the ban was enacted.

He was indicted by a Somerset County grand jury on the weapons charge last December, then cleared of charges in May. At that time, Superior Court Judge Edward Coleman, sitting in Somerville, said state statutes did not bar local police officers from privately owning banned weapons.

Question: Did the law specifically exempt police officers? Did it specifically exempt private ownership? If so, WHY? On what grounds? And if not, didn't the judge just make law from the bench? What makes local police officers a protected class? Can they privately own banned machineguns? Sawed-off shotguns? Suppressed handguns?

Because the charge was the first of its kind to be brought against a police officer under the assault weapons ban, the state Policemen's Benevolent Association (PBA) sided with Moose in a friend of the court brief.

The Somerset County Prosecutor's Office has appealed the judge's dismissal of the charges. A hearing date has not yet been scheduled.

I'd be more than a little interested in the outcome of that hearing.

Much Crunchy Goodness

Say Uncle has several posts up that are just excellent. Start at the top and work down, but this one really pissed me off. It refers to this Fox News story about civil rights abuses: Citizens Mugged by the State.

Of particular interest to me (though they all pissed me off) were the two due to the War on (some) Drugs™:

Tax consultant Judith Roderick, 55, of Lacey, Wash., had prepared a land trust for a client who was later charged with growing marijuana. The Thurston County Narcotics Task Force seized Roderick's home, her bank accounts and her business records during their investigation into whether she knew the client had used drug money to buy the land. Left destitute by the seizures, Roderick had to represent herself in court. It took over a year for prosecutors to decide they had no case.

Classic car restorer Dan Peruchi, 35, of Fort Worth, Texas, was driving a vehicle he had just purchased through West Memphis, Ark., when police stopped him. They seized $18,890 in cash Peruchi was carrying for car purchases because a drug-sniffing dog reacted as if some of the bills had once been in contact with cocaine.

No charges were filed against Peruchi, and there was no evidence of drug involvement. But he never got his money back.

So the Fourth and Fifth Amendments have been gutted. No wonder they want to strip us of the Second.

Read the whole thing. And stop thinking that government is a benign thing.

Yup, He's a Thorougly Dangerous Man!

THIS is why I abhor gun control laws. As the man said: "In one sentence, I believe that gun control creates needless victims."

Pistol-packing Senior Chases Off Mugger, Gets Charged for Unlicensed Gun

Bronx-WABC, November 5, 2003) — A mugger in the Bronx got quite a surprise when the 80-year-old man he attacked in an elevator pulled out a .38 caliber handgun. There was a struggle, a shot was fired, and now the elderly victim is being criminally charged.

But of course. He had the audacity to try and defend himself rather than depend on The State.

Marcus Solis is in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx where he talked with the man.

Lester Campbell says the gun belonged to his mother, and that it was passed onto him when she died. And he said he would carry it with him when he went to cash checks.

Seems reasonable to me. Except in New York, where you have to have government permission to own a gun, and you have to "show need" in order to carry one for self-defense. "Show need" and spend a lot of money and time. Sounds like Mr. Campbell had the time, but not the $329 it costs merely to apply. Doesn't matter anyway, as Mr. Campbell doesn't have a business, and individual citizens (unless you're a celebrity or politically connected) can't get a license to carry.

Campbell had just cashed his Social Security check and gone to the supermarket near his house, when the mugger followed him into the elevator of his building. What the mugger didn't realize was that the octogenarian was packing heat.

Why should he? The City has ensured that the victims of muggers are disarmed. Campbell was a fluke - a man who held his right to defend himself was more important than the written law. There seem to be fewer and fewer people like this.

And after Campbell pulled out his gun, a fierce struggle ensued.

Lester Campbell, Mugging Victim: "He tried to keep the barrel away from him, twisting and turning. And when I was going to pull it, see, I lose some grip. And that's when he started twisting and twisting."

The mugger had knocked Campbell to the ground and ripped his pants while grabbing for his wallet. The retired security guard fired one shot that hit the side of the elevator, and richotted up into the ceiling.

The elevator stopped on the third floor where the suspect ran out, and Campbell cried out for help. The thief made off with $262 in Social Security money. And now Campbell's eye is bloodshot, and his cheek is purple from injuries he received in the assault.

But contrary to the received wisdom of the gun controllers, Mr. Campbell didn't "have his gun taken away" from him. At least not by the mugger. And the mugger might think again before he mugs his next victim. But probably not. After all, Mr. Campbell is an aberration in NYC.

Police however arrested Campbell and charged him with misdemeanor criminal possesion of a weapon. While he admits he knew the gun was unlicensed, Campbell insists he did nothing wrong.

This is where Mr. Campbell gets to learn the difference between "wrong" and "illegal." And it underscores the need for Jury Nullification. Because he's right.

Lester Campbell: "He had no business doing that. I was minding my business. I don't bother nobody."

Ernest McKenzie, Building Resident: "The way I feel, if he didn't have the gun probably something would happen to him, serious. And at the same time, he has to be licensed."

Right. Have you seen the hoops you have to jump through to get a license in NY?

Police confiscated the gun, along with another one in the apartment. So Campbell was cited for two counts of misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon, and was given a desk appearance ticket. He'll have a court appearance next month.

So, after being robbed by a mugger, he's been robbed (and rendered defensless) by The State, and will probably be further robbed (fined) by the City that denies him the ability to protect himself, and that has no responsibility to protect him.

UPDATE: Dave at Pervasive Light has taken up a collection for Mr. Campbell's defense. And he's gotten an Instalanche through Jeff Soyer's blog, Alphecca. (That's what you get for being on Glenn's blogroll, grumble, grumble, grumble....)

Ok, Here's My 2¢

Ever since Kim du Toit wrote his piece "The Pussification Of The Western Male" (link is temporary) there has been a lot of comment on it all over the blogosphere. Most positive, some negative, some downright hilarious. It is, as Donald Sensing put it, "over the top" in places, but that's just Kim.

But let me put in my 2¢ on the subject.

Kim is not an isolated male. He's married. And Connie is no shrinking violet. And on her webpage is her manifesto:

Men create and defend societies. Women civilize them.

Men have been holding up their end of the bargain. We women have dropped the ball entirely.

We can, must, and will do better

Remember that when you read Kim's rant.

Civilized does not equal pussified.

Edited to add this appropriate quote:

To be civilized is to restrain the ability to commit mayhem.

To be incapable of committing mayhem is not the mark of the civilized,

merely the domesticated. - Trefor Thomas

UPDATE: Like I actually need to link it, the Blogfather has a link-filled post on the controversy.

I Wouldn't Do It Unarmed

Keepandbeararms.com has this excellent post by a pizza delivery driver on why he goes armed, and what has happened to drivers who have, and haven't.

As the man says, "In one sentence, I believe that gun control creates needless victims."

The War on (some) Drugs™ Claims Another Victim

One Clayton Helriggle, age 23, this time. Read the entire story.

Then read this follow-up.

Due to a "lack of cooperation" from individuals involved in the September 2002 law enforcement action in which Clayton Helriggle was shot and killed, an administrative investigation by Montgomery County Sheriff's officials ended without "any conclusions of fact in the matter."

Why am I not surprised?

The Brits Remain Clueless About the Failure of Gun Control

The Brits Remain Clueless About the Failure of Gun Control

At least according to this BBC report. They blame the internet and the postal system as a source of guns (which it very well may be, but how big a source?).

There are lots of interesting links on that page too. Like this one about the recently ended "gun amnesty" where some 43,908 guns and 1,039,358 rounds of ammunition were handed in.

Now, understand that all legally owned firearms and ammunition are registered. All handguns are banned.

And 43,908 firearms (no information, but you can bet very, very few were registered) were turned in.

And we're supposed to believe that they were turned in by violent or potentially violent criminals. But according to this story, it didn't affect the inner cities - which is where the violence is occurring.

So this tells me a couple of things: One, there are a lot of people in England who have (or did have) illegal guns and ammunition, so there is or was a significant amount of civil disobedience regarding these laws. Two, these people aren't the ones the government needed to worry about. The people the government needs to worry about didn't hand their guns in.

There were also some interesting bits of data provided in an internal link. I will present them below without comment:

Well no more comment than this: Gun control does not disarm those people willing to commit violent crime. It only disarms their potential victims.

UPDATE: Ravenwood notes that the Brits are also blaming Ebay.

I'd Have Held Out for Catherine

A good joke off of AR15.com:

One day, while a woodcutter was cutting a branch of a tree above a river, his axe fell into the river.

When he cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, "Why are you crying?" The woodcutter replied that his axe has fallen into water, and he needed the axe to make his living.

The Lord went down into the water and reappeared with a golden axe.

"Is this your axe?" the Lord asked.

The woodcutter replied, "No."

The Lord again went down and came up with a silver axe.

"Is this your axe?" the Lord asked.

Again, the woodcutter replied, "No." The Lord went down again and came up with an iron axe. "Is this your axe?" the Lord asked.

The woodcutter replied, "Yes." The Lord was pleased with the man's honesty and gave him all three axes to keep, and the woodcutter went home happy.

Some time later the woodcutter was walking with his wife along the riverbank, and his wife fell into the river. When he cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked him, "Why are you crying?"

"Oh Lord, my wife has fallen into the water!" The Lord went down into the water and came up with Jennifer Lopez. "Is this your wife?" the Lord asked.

"Yes," cried the woodcutter.

The Lord was furious. "You lied! That is an untruth!"

The woodcutter replied, "Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I had said 'no' to Jennifer Lopez, You would have come up with Catherine Zeta-Jones. Then if I also said 'no' to her, you would have come up with my wife. Had I then said 'yes,' you! would have given me all three. Lord, I am a poor man, and am not able to take care of all three wives, so THAT'S why I said yes to Jennifer Lopez."

The moral of this story is: Whenever a man lies, it is for a good and honorable reason, and for the benefit of others.

That's our story, and we're sticking to it.

Can I get an "AMEN!"?

Hit 'Em Again, Dipnut!

Dipnut over at Isn'tapundit has an excellent disassembly of Bezerkly professor George Lakoff's assertion that conservative think tanks "use language to dominate politics." Excerpt:

No, don't tell me, I think I can guess:

We say things that make sense, and you don't?

Conservatives have spent decades defining their ideas, carefully choosing the language with which to present them, and building an infrastructure to communicate them, says Lakoff.

No fair having ideas! That's like...like...beating up a baby or something!

The work has paid off: by dictating the terms of national debate, conservatives have put progressives firmly on the defensive.

That's not our only dastardly trick. We also have ideas which map to the world we live in as it actually exists! We've harnessed objective reality itself, to serve our political ends! Bwahahahahaaah!

Go read the whole thing. It's great for a laugh.

When you're done with that one, go read this outstanding City Journal piece (link courtesy of Bill Hobbs) on "Why We're Not Losing the Culture Wars Anymore." When you're done with that, go read Hobbs. It's all outstanding. (And I'm not saying that just because he linked to me long, long ago, either.)

UPDATE: Swen of Coyote at the Dog Show comments on the original piece, and makes some telling points.

Remember the Political Compass Test?

I took it back in June, but now Tim Lambert has done something interesting, he's set up a page where you can enter your scores and see graphically how you compare to others in the blogosphere. Interesting.

I took the test again just to see if there'd been any change. Nope.

What was Old is New Again

Via The Volokh Conspiracy, comes this story of the renewal of the Burma-Shave roadside sign idea.

"Dialed 911,

"And I'm on hold,

"Sure wish I had,

"That gun I sold."

The final sign advertises the Champaign County Rifle Association's Web site, www.gunssavelife.com.

Outstanding!

Hell-Bent for the Cliff?

Eric Raymond of Armed and Dangerous posts about the apparent direction of the Democrat party - oblivion. Like most all of his posts, it's well thought-out. Excerpts:

The Democrats certainly seem to be trying pretty hard to self-destruct. But this is not a new story; it's been going on ever since the New Left captured the party apparat in the early 1970s. My first experience of political activism was standing athwart that particular tide of history, yelling "stop!", as a campaign worker for centrist Democrat Scoop Jackson in 1975. I think I already half-understood that he was doomed. What I didn't foresee was the completeness with which the Democrats would abandon their southern and rural wings to become a party run exclusively by Brie-nibbling urban elites. Call it the NPRization of the party.

--

Ever since the early 1990s, there's been a tug-of-war going on within the urban elites that now run the party; the Democratic Leadership Council versus the inheritors of the New Left. What's happening now with the Dean campaign demonstrates that the DLC has lost its grip. The left is winning. The trend that has taken the Democrats from solid majority status in my childhood to the point where it needs a Bill Clinton to win elections, if it continues, might very well result in it disappearing into history.

The DLC's most recent effort to reverse this tend — to stop talking about gun control — only highlights the depth of the problem. They know, because their own analysts and Bill Clinton have told them, that gun owners are the swing vote that cost them the 1994 and 2000 elections. And yet, the left, for whom hatred of civilian firearms is a religious absolute, has such a lock on the party machine that the DLC can only talk about spin, not about a substantive change in platform.

All very true. But I don't think The Anointed are going go over the cliff without dragging as many with them as they can.

Read the whole thing.

More Crushing of Dissent

Apparently CBS stands for "Caught Being Shitty." Drudge is reporting a CBS statement that they will not be showing the controversial mini-series "The Reagans" starring James "Mr. Streisand" Brolin. The reason?

This decision is based solely on our reaction to seeing the final film, not the controversy that erupted around a draft of the script.

Although the mini-series features impressive production values and acting performances, and although the producers have sources to verify each scene in the script, we believe it does not present a balanced portrayal of the Reagans for CBS and its audience. Subsequent edits that we considered did not address those concerns.

So now they claim to be "balanced?"

Or were they just afraid of a libel lawsuit?

I can hear the howls of "CENSORSHIP!!" now. Tim Robbins might never work again.

Oh, wait....

Perhaps Remington Should Look into Manufacturing "Assault Weapons"

In a bit of bad economic news (and in direct opposition to the good economic news in the post abut Knight's Armaments) Remington Arms will be shutting its Ilion Illinois plant for the entire month of December, according to this story:

Arms shutdown reaction: concern, cautious optimism

ILION - Employees, local retailers and community leaders remain "cautiously optimistic" in the face of Thursday's announcement from the Remington Arms Company that its Ilion plant will be shut down for the month of December.

Few official details have been made available, with the exception of a letter distributed this week to approximately 940 plant employees. Repeated attempts to contact Plant Manager Paul Cahan were unsuccessful and messages left at the plant Thursday and Friday were not answered.

"It's a shocker. Nobody knows what is going on," plant employee Dan Bass said. "It's going to make it really rough on everybody during the holidays."

According to the letter, workers will have the opportunity to file for unemployment benefits with the state and employees with unused vacation time will be paid in a December check.

And many fear this will adversely affect the local economy:

There are some concerns that the shut-down could have an adverse effect on local retail sales, particularly because it comes during the important holiday shopping season. Like other municipalities in the area, Ilion relies heavily on sales tax revenue distributed through the county.

"It's just a difficult time," Gilmartin said. "Whenever you don't get that sales tax revenue the effect passes on to the taxpayers."

Located near the plant in Central Plaza, Smoker Friendly draws a good share of its customer base from Remington Arms employees. Manager Debbie Sterling said most are from the area and would likely still shop locally.

"I really don't think it's going to effect us that much here," she said. "There's nothing we can do about it anyway; it's a done deal."

The Farm House Restaurant is located just across from the plant gate on Otsego Street and attracts a number of employees before and after their shifts. Co-owner Angela Blovat said the shut-down will definitely impact business, but she feels it will not be too severe.

And look at some of the other beneficiaries of the Remington plant aside from local government and local businesses:

Currently in the middle of its fall fundraising campaign, the Valley United Way has always received a great deal of support from Remington Arms employees. Director Steve Canipe said he believes that even though this is a difficult time for workers, they will recognize the good work done by the organization and continue that support.

Kelly Brown, director of emergency services for the Mohawk Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross, also noted that Remington Arms is the largest benefactor for many of the area's non-profit organizations. In particular, he noted the employees' support of the Herkimer County Hunger Coalition through their Hands Across the Valley program.

But I thought gun manufacturers were multi-billion corporations that could hire people to fix juries?

Word of Advice: Don't Rob This Woman's Bar!

She's an ex-cop, so that might get her special consideration, but this is Wayne County (Detroit) Michigan, so maybe not. Anyway:

Police: Bar Owner Kills Two Robbers With Single Shot

Wayne County Prosecutor To Review Alleged Robbery, Shooting

Helluva shot, but the "prosecutor to review" bit isn't encouraging.

Two suspected robbers are dead after a former police officer and owner of a Detroit bar fired a single shot, Local 4 reported.

The robbery and shooting happened early Sunday or late Saturday at Adela's place on the city's southwest side.

Police say the 49-year-old woman who owned the restaurant -- a retired Detroit cop who was a former member of Mayor Coleman Young's security team -- tried to hold the suspects in the parking lot until police arrived. But when the two men attempted to speed away, and nearly ran over one of her employees, she fired a single shot that apparently struck both men, according to police.

Well, that would be defense of another, and justification for use of lethal force. Being that she's an ex-cop, the presumption would be that she knew the law (though given the example of ex-chief Jerry Oliver in the post below, maybe not) and was aware when lethal force was justified.

"We've had some robberies in that area. We have some evidence now that may indicate that someone was robbed there and assaulted there. There attempted to be another assault against one of the employees, before the owner of this establishment fired one shot in an attempt to stop a fleeing felon," said Detroit police Inspector Marilyn Hall-Beard.

The two men -- Dorian Gordillo, 22, and Rosalio Becera, 33 -- were later found dead from a bullet wound in a car parked on the Interstate 75 service drive, according to police.

One of the men was reportedly still holding a beer in his hand.

Open container. Isn't that illegal?

Oh well, I suppose if you're going to go, do it with some sense of style. Lawbreaker all the way.

Regular Butch & Sundance.

Family members of Gordillo and Becera were initially confused over their deaths, Local 4 reported.

"He was a very good guy. He would never look for trouble. I don't understand what happened. I hope we can find some answers," said Barbara Gordillo, the sister-in-law of one of the victims.

"No! Our (brother, son, cousin, nephew, uncle, fill-in-the-blank) would never do something like that!" (Even though he probably has a rap sheet several pages long.)

Officers who had responded to the incident at the bar wrote down the description of the car that left the scene and later made a match with the vehicle in which Gordillo and Becera were found dead, Local 4 reported.

While the shooting appeared to be justified, the Wayne County prosecutor was expected to review the case to determine if the bar owner would face charges.

And that is, of course, his job. However, I find it fascinating that so few people are charged in the rural South and so many in the urban North.

Question: Was the gun the proprietoress of Adela's used registered?

Or Was It Because He Thought Cops Didn't Have to Obey the Law?

Ex Detroit police Chief Jerry Oliver recently attempted to take a flight from Detroit to Philadelphia - with a pistol in his checked luggage. Problem was, he didn't follow the required procedures to do so. According to this story:

You can check a weapon, but paperwork needs to be filled out and the ammunition separated from the pistol. Oliver claimed to be unaware of the procedures for checking a gun in luggage he says, “it was just an oversight.”

--

Oliver says he takes full responsibility for the incident and says he "always" checks his gun when he boards. But, he claimed to be unaware of the procedures for checking a gun in luggage.

And since he's a member of the special, priviledged class...

It makes me wonder, however, how many times Chief Oliver had done this in the past, and gotten away with it?

Back on October 20 when the story broke, Chief Oliver faced:

Suspension is unlikely at this point. But, according to TSA officials in Detroit, he could be fined up to a $1,000.

Not to be. (I cannot help but wonder what the penalty for a Joe Average would have been, though?) Instead, Chief Oliver was fined and has resigned his position as Chief. Further, he has been charged with possession of an unregistered handgun - a major oopsie for a police officer. According to this report:

Wayne County Prosecutor Michael Duggan at a Monday morning news conference announced his decision to charge Oliver with the 90-day misdemeanor.

Oliver said he didn't think he had to register the personal weapon in Michigan, where he was in the process of becoming a licensed, sworn police officer. He has been a sworn officer in other departments and said he has had the gun for years.

He's a police chief and doesn't know the gun laws.

But we citizens are supposed to.

UPDATE: According to this story:

Former Detroit Police Chief Jerry Oliver entered a no contest plea to a misdemeanor charge of possessing an unlicensed handgun on Thursday in a Romulus courtroom.


According to an agreement worked out with prosecutors, the charge could be dismissed in 90 days if Oliver stays out of trouble.

--

Doug Baker, the Wayne County chief for special prosecutions, said Oliver’s sentence was “typical” for such cases.


Oliver paid a $250 fine before leaving.

Typical, eh? Perhaps for law-enforcement officers.

Excellent Response

I missed this until just now, but if you don't regularly read Clayton Cramer's blog, so did you.

Clayton responds to a gun control supporter's e-mail with calm, reason, and fact. Excellent read. Excerpt:

My experience is that most gun control advocates (as I used to be, 20+ years ago) don't fully understand the issues involved, for the same reason that I didn't: they haven't researched the subject, but have relied on the impressions gathered from reading newspapers and popular magazines. At first glance, a lot of the measures that you talk about seem to make perfect sense--but that's because you are applying very middle class values to a problem that is largely not middle class.

Violent criminals in America are very atypical; they are disproportionately minors coming from severely dysfunctional homes; disproportionately mentally ill people who have been deinstitutionalized; people who are intoxicated, and for whom intoxication is a way of life; and adults with long felony conviction histories behind them. The values that you and I share are completely irrelevant to the vast majority of murderers.

And there's a lot more.

It's a Small World

I came across this story that details the relocation and expansion of Knight's Armaments manufacturing facilities from Vero Beach, FL to my old hometown of Titusville.

Weapons maker to stir up lackluster economy in N. Brevard

Company to use former Tomahawk missile plant in Titusville, creating up to 450 jobs

Interesting. An "assault weapon" manufacturer bringing jobs to a community. Imagine that.

C. Reed Knight Jr. realizes there's a dark side to his business.

Beginning in January, his factory, the former McDonnell-Douglas Tomahawk missile plant south of Titusville, will make powerful guns and firearms accessories for the nation's military, including some top-of-the-line weaponry for U.S. and allied special forces.

Knight reasons his lethal products are used for a good purpose -- to defend the nation's interests against terrorists and other foes.

"What we do for a living is very serious," he said. "We do build equipment that takes people's lives, but a lot less than the Tomahawk missiles that were built here. We selectively take out people, and they do it through mass destruction."

Oh, please. Spare me the PC apologies.

Currently, Knight has about 110 employees at the plant, but plans to increase that up to as many as 250 in January and to 450 "as soon as possible" after production begins. The reopening of the plant is expected to provide a boost to the Titusville area's lackluster economy.

Knight's company -- Knight Enterprises LLC, and its contracting arm, Knight's Armament Co. -- is the final stages of preparing the building for operation.

Because of the nature of his work, Knight, a former fourth-generation citrus farmer-turned-federal contractor, is guarded when discussing details about his business.

Knight has been gradually relocating his company from Vero Beach, where it has operated for years out of a 60,000-square-foot facility. Last year, Knight announced he would move his firm to the 625,000-square-foot former missile plant after reaching an agreement to buy it from The Boeing Co., which acquired McDonnell-Douglas after the plant closed in 1995.

I assume this means that Knight's believes the AW ban will sunset?

Knight indicated federal officials took an interest in his company's move and expansion to support the U.S. "war on terror" in the Persian Gulf region triggered by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

State and Brevard County officials also sweetened the deal by providing Knight with more than $1.7 million in tax breaks and incentives to move into the former missile plant.

Horrors! Tax breaks to manufacturers of "bullet hoses!"

Within the gun-manufacturing industry, Knight's company is known for its superior firearms, said Gary Mehalik, spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association for gun manufacturers.

"They make some specialized products," Mehalik said. "Their business is in the same class as the M-16 (assault rifle), but they specialize in more-accurate, long-range applications that are sought-after by people who compete in target-shooting matches. They're also very valuable for special forces in the Afghan/Iraq campaign."

Knight's firearms' long-range capabilities are in demand in a desert war, where the fighting usually is more spread out than "in the confines of a jungle war," Mehalik said.

One thing Titusville-area community leaders like about Knight's business is the roughly 450 manufacturing jobs he plans to bring to this north Brevard County city. Knight estimates the jobs will pay an average of more than $34,000 a year.

The Titusville area hasn't had much to cheer about in terms of economic development since the recession of 2001. The area also has lacked the robust population growth of south Brevard County.

Before the refurbished plant has produced its first gun, Knight has become somewhat of the toast of the local business community. That's mainly because he's breathing new life into the former Tomahawk plant, which was vacant for about seven years.

Not only did the Titusville area lose more than 1,200 jobs when McDonnell-Douglas closed the facility, the empty building came to symbolize the area's past glory days and present doldrums.

Tidyville was pretty much wiped out in 1974 after the Apollo/Saturn V program came to an end, too. That's when I was living there. Once they launched Skylab, that was pretty much it, and the major aerospace contractors pulled out. But it was a nice place to grow up.

"We consider them a big part of the community," Titusville City Manager Tom Harmer said about Knight's company.

"They've brought a lot of adrenaline to this community," Harmer said. "A lot of people were waiting for the plant to be filled. It's good to see them getting their operation up and running."

The plant is in an unincorporated area of Brevard County, just south of Titusville. But the city may annex the 450-acre site into Titusville, Harmer said.

Walt Johnson, executive director of Titusville's Space Coast Economic Development Commission, said he sees "a psychological" benefit for North Brevard by having the plant occupied again.

I cannot help but wonder if the plant will draw a protest rally from gun control groups. Nah, probably not.

Also, the more than 400 jobs at the plant will have economic "ripple effects" -- from local spending by those who work at the plant to related businesses that may see opportunity, he said.

"Other businesses may move here because they have some synergy" with Knight's company, Johnson said.

In all, Knight planned to spend a total of $20 million to buy the plant, renovate it and put in the gun-manufacturing equipment.

"We should see steady growth," Knight said, "if homeland security and the military continue to grow."

And the AW ban sunsets...

Meanwhile, Knight has about 125 people working for him in Vero Beach. That number will drop to 20 to 25 when the Titusville plant opens.

Knight said many of his Vero Beach workers will be working in Titusville, along with people he has been hiring from Brevard County. Machinists and other manufacturing jobs will pay between $7.50 and $20 an hour, he said.

The new plant will start production about a year behind Knight's original schedule. That's because he had to focus his resources in Vero Beach when his company received a $12 million contract last year to produce weapons for the Marine Corps. Knight said the contract was tied to the U.S. military campaign in the Persian Gulf region.

He said the Marines needed a lot of weapons fast, and the Vero Beach facility was the only way to meet the demand because the Titusville plant was far from ready. So Knight has kept his Vero Beach facility running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, this year to fulfill the contract.

He's also been busing workers between Vero Beach and Titusville for training and other job assignments while the company is in transition.

Some of the first business the new plant will handle will be producing Mark 11 sniper rifles for the Navy and "modular weapons systems" for the Army, Knight said.

His company will occupy about half of the plant. Knight is considering whether to lease the remaining space to other companies, which would bring even more jobs to the site.

So far, Knight said he only has had "discussions" with other companies about leasing the empty space. He said potential tenants preferably would be "compatible" with his company, although not necessarily into weapons manufacturing.

"I was very impressed by what they're doing there," said Bill Ellis, chairman of the Rockledge-based Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast. "I think it's an industry with a great future in North Brevard, with all the terrorism we have in the world." Knight Enterprises LLC

Remember when "gun manufacturer" didn't have overtones of "evil baby-killer?"

Here's Knight's homepage: http://www.knightsarmament.com/

Knight's makes .223, .308, and .50 BMG gas-operated semi-auto rifles. According to the VPC's compilation of manufacturing data, Knight's hasn't made many rifles: a high of 2,500 in 1993 and a low of 150 in 1996. Only 996 in 1999. I must assume that those numbers don't reflect military-contract weapons, as those kinds of sales won't support 100+ employees unless they were all the SR-25 Mark 11 Mod 0 Navy contract sniper rifle at $8,000 a pop.