Why I Learned to Type.

Instapundit writes The Death of Cursive, linking to an article in the Washington Post that reports:

The computer keyboard helped kill shorthand, and now it's threatening to finish off longhand.

When handwritten essays were introduced on the SAT exams for the class of 2006, just 15 percent of the almost 1.5 million students wrote their answers in cursive. The rest? They printed. Block letters.

I'm 44, but I haven't written in cursive in decades. I quite literally no longer can.

Put bluntly, my handwriting sucks. My mother says I should have been a doctor. The computer keyboard didn't kill my longhand. I learned to type because I knew that, in order to communicate via the written word, it was a far better option for me.

Many educators shrug. Stacked up against teaching technology, foreign languages and the material on standardized tests, penmanship instruction seems a relic, teachers across the region say. But academics who specialize in writing acquisition argue that it's important cognitively, pointing to research that shows children without proficient handwriting skills produce simpler, shorter compositions, from the earliest grades.

Simpler, shorter compositions? Obviously they haven't been reading this blog.

Scholars who study original documents say the demise of handwriting will diminish the power and accuracy of future historical research. And others simply lament the loss of handwritten communication for its beauty, individualism and intimacy.

"Future historical research" of the kind typified by Michael Bellesiles' Arming America? And, really, what does handwriting have to do with "beauty, individualism and intimacy"? Does no one on the WaPo read Lileks? Mark Steyn? Victor Davis Hanson? Would their work read any better if it was printed in longhand rather than Times New Roman?

Cursive script was invented because of the quill pen. Picking up and setting down the point of the quill produces blotches, so to make the paper as clean as possible it was best if one wrote with one continuous motion, nib always in contact with the paper. When steel nibs and then fountain pens were created, that problem still existed. (Back when I still wrote cursive, I loved writing with fountain pens. My penmanship still sucked, but I liked the look of it.) But in the era of the Bic ballpoint, it's not a problem anymore. And in the electronic age where text appears in pixels, cursive has - rightly - gone the way of the dodo bird. I do not lament its loss.

Instead, we have a myriad of fonts to choose from (though not so much on Blogger), and those fonts can add much to the content and feeling of the written piece. Like this James Lileks review of Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith:

Wouldn't be the same in cursive, would it?

Trebuchet!.

An interesting time-waster, GlobalSpec's Trebuchet Challenge. Judging from some of the scores, there are some serious medieval-weapons nerds among the engineering community.

"Maybe America still has a lot to learn from England and her villages."

We have, but it's not the lesson I think you mean.

I recently received a comment on a post I wrote back in April of 2005, It's a Cheap Shot, I Know... That was another piece about the flawed idea that laws that disarm the law-abiding populace somehow make that populace safer. Well, the comment I received was quite indignant:

I'm from Abigail's village and I think she would be horrified that you are trying to advocate carrying arms after what happened to her.

Too bad.

The person the police arrested and released wasn't the person responsible for the attack - the person responsible for the attack was someone who lated committed suicide in Scotland. He had a reputation for hunting in the woods (armed) and had allegedly a reputation for drinking and drug taking. The guy was deeply messed up but his actions were beyond comprehension, horrific and completely sick.

And the law did a marvelous job of disarming him did it?

Our village and community were in a state of shock along with the rest of our nation. We stood shoulder to sholuder(sic) and all of us sent our prayers for Abigail and her family. I think your use of this terrible horific attack as a justification for encouraging people to carry more weapons in public is also - frankly sick.

And you're entitled to your opinion. But standing shoulder-to-shoulder and praying didn't prevent the vicious attack upon her, did it? She and her baby son were alone with a knife-weilding nut. No cops, and no other defenders. Had he wished, her attacker could have bashed both their heads in with a handy rock.

So what's your point?

How could you pretend to care about Abigail and the people of my village and country when you advocate the carrying of weapons.

Normally that sentence would end with a question mark, but we both know it's rhetorical. Honestly, I don't care about Abigale and the people of your village specifically, but I do care about Albion as a whole since it's the nation that gave birth to the one in which I now live. As Kim du Toit put it:

I could fill these pages with news of similar atrocities happening anywhere in the world—the British Disease is by no means confined to Britain, as witnessed by car-burning being the recreational favorite of French teenagers—but, if I may be frank, I don’t give a rat's ass what happens to France, to the French, or to any other country in the world for that matter.

But I care, deeply, about what's happening in Britain nowadays, and if it seems any other way to my Brit Friends and Readers, then I humbly beg your forgiveness.

Continuing:

So please get your facts correct about this case and don't you dare use this awful incident to promote the carrying of weapons again.

And you plan to stop me... how?

Maybe America still has a lot to learn from England and her villages.

Indeed. We're learning quite well. Which is why we have "shall-issue" concealed-carry laws in 37 states and unrestricted concealed-carry in two more.

We've learned. And we're still learning.

Abigail herself and her familly have handled this appauling attack with such dignity and courage that they know what courage is and what it means.

People who carry weapons like you will never have an ounce of the courage that she has.

As I noted in my original reply to the anonymous poster, I might not have the courage Ms. Witchalls has had to exhibit in her struggle to recover from her wounds, but Dan McKown has, and he carries a weapon, thus definitively disproving that particular accusation.

I came across a piece at The Ten Ring, Mugging as Amusement. It's about the trial of the people responsible for another assault on a young woman, Nicole duFresne, in New York City - another "disarmed victim zone." Nicole died. She was brave, too. I'm sure her friends and family stood "shoulder to shoulder" and prayed for her, as well.

But Denise references this little tidbit from the story:

The group then rode the subway to Brooklyn, where they menaced a girl at the Broadway Junction station and a man who scared them away by reaching into his jacket as if he were carrying a gun.

Imagine that! Someone who was carrying a weapon (or faked it well) and avoided becoming a victim!

What a coward!

Well, that's the logic my anonymous commenter uses, anyway.

Perhaps England and her villages have some lessons to learn from America? (And that's not a rhetorical question.

Another Case of Child Abuse.

Defending himself, mother, boy kills intruder

14-year-old fires once, hits man in head

By Beth Wilson and Mary Ann Cavazos Caller-Times
October 10, 2006

Police said a 14-year-old boy was defending himself and his mother when he shot and killed an intruder Monday afternoon at their home on Ocean Drive.

Capt. John Houston said the 14-year-old boy, whose name was not released, was home from school after becoming ill, and his 46-year-old mother, Rose Ann Kozlowski, had just returned from the grocery store when she was confronted by a man with a knife.

Yes, laws that prevent people from getting guns will certainly prevent violent crime, won't they?

Cmdr. Jesse Garcia confirmed during a news conference that police received a call from one of the residents of 4221 Ocean Drive at 12:55 p.m. and responded to a report of a man tying them up and holding them at knifepoint.

The man, only identified as a black man in his 30s or 40s, led the mother and son to the upstairs master bedroom, where he bound their hands with men's ties and ransacked the house for valuables.

"He packed up her SUV in the garage with those items. He threatened to kill them repeatedly," Houston said.

After the robber caught the woman trying to untie herself once, she was able to free herself and her son and find her husband's pistol in a security box under the bed. She tried to shut double doors to the bedroom as the man tried to push them open and her son held the gun.

"She was using all her strength to push them," Houston said, adding that the boy aimed at the man through a space in the door and fired one shot.

"He shot once and hit him in the head, killing him instantly," Houston said. "He took a life-saving measure to save his mother and himself."

Good shooting, kid.

Soon after the incident, police cars lined Ocean Drive near the house, which is between Ocean View Place and Aberdeen Avenue, and neighbors stood nearby watching officers investigate.

Houston said police also are investigating the possibility the man had an accomplice because neighbors reported seeing two black men in a green 1970s four-door sedan, possibly a Lincoln Continental, driving slowly around the neighborhood a couple hours before the incident.

The best part about this story? This poll results at the sidebar:

I'd like to see a few more responses, though.

UPDATE: Thursday, 10/12

And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is why the gun-grabbers fail at the polls and have had to resort to attempting legislation from the bench.

End of update.

This is another case like the 11 year-old boy who shot a knife-weilding intruder in South Bend, Indiana in 2002, or the 12 year-old boy who frightened off five home-invaders earlier this year.

But children shouldn't be exposed to guns, we're told. It's dangerous. Yes, each year some children die from accidental gunshot wound. Author Jean Hanff Korelitz believes that number to be over 4,000 annually, and said so in a Salon.com piece, but the Centers for Disease Control reports that in 2003, 56 children 14 years and younger were such victims. In 2002 there were 60. In 2001 there were 72. Each and every year, despite an ever-increasing number of firearms in private hands, the number of accidental deaths by gunshot - even among children - has been declining. But guns are bad. Guns are evil. Children shouldn't be exposed to firearms because they'll only harm themselves or their playmates with them.

Tell that to Jessica Carpenter.

Returned from the Rendezvous!

Next time I think I'm going to have to buy a digital camera and a laptop. Being disconnected from the interweb for several days is annoying, and not being able to take pictures is, too.

What a great time! (The 28+ hours on the road left a bit to be desired, but the blogmeet was terrific!) I just wish more of us had gone. Here's a list of the people I got to meet:

Mr. Completely, and his better half, KeeWee.
Rivrdog and his wife
Conservative UAW Guy and spouse
John of Argghhh! and SWWBO
Fodder from Ride Fast & Shoot Straight and his wife the Commandress
Og the Neanderpundit
SayUncle
US Citizen from Traction Control
Joe Huffman from The View from North Central Idaho, and Boomershoot fame
Dave Duringer of the relatively new World Examiner blog
Cam Edwards of NRAnews fame
Chris Byrne, his wife Melody, and their friend John from Anarchangel, who I'd met previously at a Nation of Riflemen shoot in Phoenix
Chris Barrett and his wife Jill, often commenters on several blogs also came.

Last, but not least, I got to meet Dan McKown, the speaker at the dinner Saturday who's a pretty damned funny guy in a situation that would make most people think of anything but humor.

The trip, both up and back, was uneventful, but I wish someone had told me that the freeway through Las Vegas is road construction from end to end. Plus there's road construction at the Hoover Dam (2003 through 2008!) while they build a new bridge just downstream from the dam itself. Can't have a Jihadist detonate a tanker truck on the top of the dam now, can we? I tried to figure another way home, but the only real option was to traverse The People's Republic of Kalifornistan, and with all the weapons and leftover ammo I was transporting that just didn't seem to me to be a good idea. In addition to the four firearms I brought, I had Chris, Melody, and John's (redacted) handguns with me, too. They didn't want to go to the hassle of trying to fly with them, so I provided UPS delivery service. I won't say how many or anything, but with the 1,000 rounds of ammo, the range bag weighed about 70 lbs.

I arrived in Reno Thursday afternoon about 4:00 PM and, per the hotel's request, spent about 45 minutes checking the arsenal in with security. That was a surprisingly not-unpleasant experience. The room was perfectly adequate with the exception of the fact that Circus Circus Reno does not carry the SciFi channel so I was unable to watch Friday's season opener of Battlestar Galactica (yes, I'm a nerd.) I had dinner solo, and then went to the hospitality room provided by the hotel. I was the first one there that evening, but I was shortly joined by Mr. Completely, Rivrdog and their spouses and then others trickled in and out. Conservative UAW Guy related his travel horror story of delayed flights and missed connections and the fact that the airline had lost all of his luggage - including his guns. (Everything showed up Friday morning about 1:00AM though.) Interesting conversations were had, but about midnight we packed it in, with plans to meet for breakfast Friday morning.

We had a great buffet breakfast Friday, but SayUncle had plans to compete in a poker tournament and was unable to join us. Then we split up and went our separate ways. Being the INTJ personality that I am, I cruised around the (remarkably small) area of Reno/Sparks looking for a book store. I should have used the Yellow Pages. Apparently people don't read much in Reno. I did find a rather empty mall (no bookstore) where I decided to catch a movie - The Guardian. (Not bad, but wait until it comes out on DVD. Not worth $8.50, but a good discount matinee.)

Friday evening many of us met up at the hospitality room, and then adjourned for dinner. We got back to the room after dinner, and the stragglers began showing up. Knowing we had to get up fairly early to make it to the range Saturday, we called it a night about 1:00AM.

I set my alarm for 7:30 so that I would be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the 8:30 gathering in preparation for the trip to Denny's and then the range, but I still managed to oversleep. I dragged my tired butt out of bed at 8:00, soaked my head, shaved, dressed, and stumbled down to the hospitality room. After a little bit of Chinese fire drill, I got all the guns out of hock, got the truck loaded, and off the caravan went to Denny's for breakfast.

I have to give major kudos to that Denny's. Fourteen people descended on an already crowded restaurant, and they not only got us seated, they got our orders taken and food delivered in remarkably good time.

After that, things didn't go so well, at least for me. With cursory directions to the range, the convoy headed out. And I promptly lost them. Not only that, old Wrong-Way Feldman managed to miss the exit for Nevada 445, and proceeded down I-80 East for about, oh, 22 miles before I was absolutely certain that I'd screwed up. I bailed off at an exit that looked promising for a convenience mart, and bought a map of Nevada. Yeah, I'd missed the exit, all right. About 20 miles back. So, back on the freeway I went, and there it was, right where the map said it was! By this time, though, I'd burned about an hour. So I started driving down 445 looking for the rifle range that was "right off the highway," not realizing just how far I had to go to get to it. I stopped, turned around, and found someone on the side of the road to ask. He had no clue, but the next guy did, so finally about 11:45 I got to the range.

It's a very nice facility, and well run. And well attended, too. We took up pretty much a quarter of it, and I let several people blast away with both the Garand and my "Designated Marksman's" AR15. I got the AR dialed in on the 400 yard steel swinger, and even with a fairly stiff crosswind we were ringing it with regularity. Finally we got around to trying it with my iron-sighted Garand, and believe it or not we hit it a few times with that as well, shooting 147 grain Korean milsurp. John Donovan ran a full bandoleer through the Garand. I think he liked it! I did a little (very little) pistol shooting, and never did take the Mountain Gun out of its case.

Finally, about 4:00 many of us decided that we'd had enough blasty goodness to keep us for a while and headed back to the hotel. I finally got my shower, and a little rest before the banquet. I shared my table with Rivrdog, Conservative UAW guy, Ride Fast & Shoot Straight and their wives. (I wish mine could have come, but I think she'd have been bored to tears.) Joe Huffman gave a good speech on what he believes we as a group need to do with regards to those who wish to take away our rights. A synopsis is available at his blog, and while I agree with Joe on the specifics of his ideas, I also agree with SayUncle's recommendation. Dan McKown related the story of the Tacoma Mall shooting in detail that you won't hear from the MSM, complete with funny anecdotes about paper towel compresses and torso tourniquets. (And I'm not being facetious - he made jokes about having been shot. He made jokes immediately after being shot. And pretty good ones, at that.) He is still recovering and may possibly regain the ability to walk, but being hit in the torso three times with 7.62x39 ammo is Not Good, and he still suffers considerably from it. My hat's off to him for being willing to go to the sound of gunfire, and being stalwart in the face of the outcome. But hey, he's a Scot! What else could he do?

After dinner Mr. Completely presented Dan with a check from the proceeds of the Rendezvous, with a promise of more to come once the final accounting was finished, then the door prizes were handed out. I don't recall who Neanderpundit won the $50 Natchez gift certificate, SayUncle won the leather range bag, and Rivrdog won the Hi-Point pistol, which he then graciously presented to Dan, since Dan was probably the least-armed among the crowd in attendance.

At this point I'd like to make an observation.

I'm a big guy - 6 feet tall and over 285. I'm firmly in the middle of the pack physically for the guys that showed up for the Rendezvous. I don't know whether I should feel good about that, or appalled. I'm not much for stereotypes, but obviously we tend to the hefty side. As one person commented at the dinner, all those T-shirts were donated by MidwayUSA, and they wouldn't fit most of us. (I wear XL, so I did OK. I'm wearing it right now, as a matter of fact. But if it shrinks much in the wash, I'm in trouble.)

Physical types ran the normal gamut - Dave Duringer is on the small end of the spectrum, and Joe Huffman is quite tall, but several of us are seriously big dudes. And as SayUncle put it, he's apparently the youngest gunblogger alive. It was interesting putting faces to the bloggers.

After dinner was complete, we returned to the hospitality room and talked until about 1:30AM. Not much was left of the beverages so graciously supplied by Rivrdog when we finally called it a night.

I had breakfast with Joe Huffman Sunday morning. I'm going to have to make a concentrated effort to get my 6.5x55 1896 Swede target rifle functional in time for a Boomershoot. SayUncle was supposed to join us, but somehow that fell through. I headed out of Reno around 10:45 and made it to Kingman by 8:00PM. Finally got back to Tucson about 2:45 this afternoon. I'm tired, but it was a great trip, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Hopefully I'll be able to do it next year, and meet many more of you.

And I'll have a laptop. And a camera.

Getting Ready for the Rendezvous.

The ammo is loaded and ready to go. One .30 cal can about half-full of .45ACP, a .50 cal can with 400 rounds of .223 in boxes, and a full .50 cal can with 376 rounds of .30-06 on Garand clips in bandoleers. In the range bag are several loaded 8-round 1911 magazines, some loaded AR mags, and 250 rounds of .45LC. I'm bringing my Garand, my AR with both uppers, my Kimber 1911, and my M25 Mountain Gun. I'll pack my clothes tonight, load up the truck in the morning, and hit the road for Vegas about 8:00 AM which should put me into Phoenix just after rush hour, and into Vegas in the late afternoon. I'll leave Vegas nice and early Thursday, and get into Reno about check-in time.

Hope to see lots of you there.

And yes, I'll let you shoot my guns. That's why I'm bringing all the ammo.

I Might as Well Give This Gig Up.

Other people do it better than I.

Go read Tam, if she's not already on your blogroll. She says precisely what I wanted to say.

Vacation!.

Last year about this time we were gearing up for the Remodel™. I took time off from work, but it was hardly a vacation. This year I'm taking two (2) weeks off (during a period in which I have never been busier) and in the middle of that two weeks I'm driving up to Reno for Mr. Completely's Gunblogger Rendezvous. Of course, there's a lot of honeydo's I need to take care of during this period, but hopefully I'll have time to do a lot of reading, a little writing, and some reloading and shooting (besides next Saturday in Reno.)

I'll also be doing some maintenance on this blog - specifically, updating the blogroll.

If I don't blow everything off completely.

Do It Again, Only HARDER!.

I note tonight that, once again, someone has gone to a "disarmed victim zone" (otherwise known as a school) with a firearm and committed mayhem. (I also note that this is major news in Australia, the UK, Israel, China, Bulgaria, South Africa and jeebus knows how many other foreign places. Yes, guns are terrible things here in the U.S. of A. More "victims of the Second Amendment," I'm sure they'll say.)

Those "gun-free zones" really do the job, don't they? They make sure that anyone willing and capable of defending against someone intent on evil has no chance to intervene before things go completely to hell.

But this is SOP for people who blame not the perpetrators, but the weapons for these evil deeds. Once again, let me quote Steven den Beste on the topic of "cognitive dissonance":

When someone tries to use a strategy which is dictated by their ideology, and that strategy doesn't seem to work, then they are caught in something of a cognitive bind. If they acknowledge the failure of the strategy, then they would be forced to question their ideology. If questioning the ideology is unthinkable, then the only possible conclusion is that the strategy failed because it wasn't executed sufficiently well. They respond by turning up the power, rather than by considering alternatives. (This is sometimes referred to as "escalation of failure".)

Or, as I express it, "Do it again, only HARDER!"

Here's another shining example.

California governator Arnold Schwarzenegger....

Well, you read it:

Legislation to protect domestic violence victims from gun violence signed into law

September 27, 2006

Need for legislation underscored after Evan Nash, a San Diego youth, was slain by his armed father.

SACRAMENTO – Governor Schwarzenegger yesterday signed legislation by Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) that will provide additional protection for people seeking court protective orders under the Family Code.

“This law is dedicated to the memory of Evan Nash, the San Diego teen who tragically lost his life while under the protection of a family court protective order. His mother, Lucy Nash, fought to change the law to further protect victims of domestic violence,” said Senator Kehoe.

In 2003, Evan Nash’s estranged father shot and killed his son less than 24 hours after being served with a protective order. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Lucy Nash stated that she thought Evan’s father’s firearms would be confiscated at the time his protective order was served, and that had she known they would not be confiscated, she would have moved her son to safety.

Specifically, Senate Bill 585:

1. Adds additional provisions to the Family Code to allow law enforcement to consider seeking the immediate surrender of a firearm from a person served with a protective order.

2. Reduces from 72 hours to 48 hours the time frame by which a person served with a protective order must show proof to a court that they either sold or surrendered their firearms.

3. Requires that application forms for protective orders ask what types of firearms are in the possession of the respondent.

“Unfortunately, in some cases the issuance of a protective order is followed by an assault or even murder,” said Senator Kehoe.

You don't say!

“In certain circumstances, it is important to remove the guns as quickly as possible after a protective order has been served to help increase public safety.”

But which cases? And how do you tell?

Last year, Evan’s mother, Lucy Nash, traveled from San Diego to Sacramento to testify in support of the measure. SB 585 will take effect January 1, 2007.

I've had to stop banging my head against hard surfaces. I've beaten too many of them into crumbling dust.

How many absurdities can you count in that one story?

1. While California has handgun registration, I don't believe they have long gun registration, so how are they supposed to know that someone turned everything in?

2. This law trusts that the target of such an order will actually comply, especially if he's planning violence. You know, in those few cases that actually lead to murder? It's worked so well in the past, hasn't it?

3. If they can't keep guns out of the hands of prohibited persons (i.e. known felons), how do they expect to keep them out of the hands of people with restraining orders if they really, really want one?

4. If someone with a restraining order really wants to kill someone, there are other methods besides guns, but this law is concerned not with violence, only gun violence.

5. The law supposedly disarms the perpetrator of domestic violence in 48 hours, rather than the completely unreasonable 72 hours - yet the bill is passed giving credit to a case in which the perpetrator killed within the new timeframe!

How many more can you come up with?

But if the previous law didn't work, do it again, only harder!

The next iteration will drop the time period to 24 hours, I suppose? And when the next violent offender hands his firearms in ammunition first?

If Ms. Nash had understood that the government is not responsible for her (or her son's) protection, then she might have done what was necessary to protect herself and her son. Instead, she depended on the State to protect her. She depended a piece of paper. But now other women will still think that a restraining order will provide more protection than the paper it's printed on.

And that's a damned lie.

But the ideology cannot be wrong. The only possible conclusion is that the strategy failed because it wasn't executed sufficiently well, so DO IT AGAIN, ONLY HARDER!

What will they do about "Gun-Free School Zones" now? Increase the radius of the exclusionary zone?

"I Can't Believe You're Doing This!".

I can.

After my "Pushback?" post from yesterday, commenter 1894C put up a link to this YouTube video. Watch the whole thing. I doubt that the videographer, "texteditor," will get much satisfaction from the courts, but it's an interesting thing to watch.

Nice to know the patrol officers understand the law they swear to uphold.< /snark>

UPDATE: While perusing some of the incoming links, I found an essay written by Peter Schramm in 1999 that I think everyone ought to read. Go, go... I'll still be here when you're finished...





Done? Good. Did this quote get your attention?

"...where there is bureaucracy, there is no freedom."

I thought it might.

Jeff Cooper has Left Us.

Doubtless (if you read the gun blogs) you're already aware of this. I found out last night, but Blogger was being wonky, so I couldn't post. I'm glad I didn't. Joe Huffman has an excellent piece up, far better than anything I would have written: 147 quotes from the man. Go read, and reflect on a life well-lived and a man who will be greatly missed.

Pushback?.

Here's a rather interesting video on YouTube. Watch it while it's still up. I don't imagine it will be for long.

(h/t MadOgre.)

UPDATE: Here's a larger Quicktime version not likely to disappear.

Another update: Apparently Kim du Toit and Mr. Wilcox, the producer of the film linked here, are at odds. I'm going to assume that the "crappy little snuff film" Kim refers to is this piece, though I might very well be incorrect.

Just thought y'all might want to know.

The Jabberwocky World of Saul Cornell.

Here he is again! Associate professor of History Saul Cornell of Ohio State University and its "Second Amendment Research Center at the John Glenn Institute" has published a new tome on the topic of just what the Second Amendment doesn't protect. Unsurprisingly, it's getting rave reviews (I seem to remember that Michael Bellisile's Arming America got glowing reviews, too....) Entitled A Well Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America (working title, Armed in the Holy Cause of Liberty: Guns and the American Constitution - but I guess that one was a little too... provocative?) Associate professor Cornell attempts to shed just a little unbiased light on the subject.

Or, at least, that's what he wants you to believe.

Clayton Cramer does his typical masterful job of dissecting the Minneapolis Star-Tribune's laudatory op-ed/book review with, you know, facts and citations that indicate just how far off in never-never-land Associate professor Cornell really is.

Clayton opens:

Saul Cornell Is Suddenly No Longer a Partisan on Gun Control

At least, that's what this editorial from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune claims...

--

Any of you who are familiar with Professor Cornell's work can start the insane giggling right now--yeah, he's not really on one side or the other, nor is he trying to disarm the masses.

Numerous other bloggers have noted that the "Second Amendment Research Center at the John Glenn Institute" is largely funded by the extremely anti-gun Joyce Foundation (see this post, and this post, and this one.)

But Associate professor Cornell? "He's neither antigun nor progun. He really isn't a gun guy at all. His thing is history."

Right. Cue hysterical laughter.

But as I said in my first response to the good Associate professor,

He doesn't have to be right, he just has to be convincing. The ill-informed who read this piece think "Hey, he's an authority, he must be right." That's why his side has to keep repeating the big lies.

Clayton notes the same thing I did:

It just gets more and more "alternate universe" the deeper I read

As I said in my reply to Associate professor Cornell's email:

You, an historian, have taken it upon yourself to distort history - something that you yourself claim is unacceptable. You claim that the Justice department's recognition of the "standard model" of the Second Amendment is somehow "well beyond" a "living document" re-interpretation. I'm sorry, Professor, but if you actually believe that you're delusional, and if you know better you're a bald-faced liar. I honestly cannot tell which.

I think I have a better handle on that question now.

I think we all do, at least those of us who are paying attention.

But what about the general readership of the Strib?

THAT is the fight we have to fight each and every day.

Cashing in on the Guilt.

Do you really think we want those laws to be observed? We want them broken. There is no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is to crack down on criminals. 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 the law. Create a nation of lawbreakers and then you can cash in on the guilt. Now that's the system! - Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, 1957

Looks like California, with the assistance of the BATF, is doing exactly that:

LA Gun Task Force Serves another Search Warrant

The LA County Gun Task Force has served another search warrant on the home of another member of the fifty caliber community. On Monday September 18th, eighteen police cars swarmed the neighborhood where the FCSA member lives and served a search warrant signed by Judge Steven Kleifield of the LA County Superior Court. The officers were at the residence for several hours and confiscated all semi-automatic firearms belonging to the victim.

The probable cause for issuing the search warrant was not available in the body of the affidavit so the reason for the search is unknown at this time. It should be noted the LA Gun Task Force used "High Risk" entry tactics by sending a SWAT Entry team to make the initial entry into the victim's residence. Gun owners in LA County need to be prepared to expect these kinds of entry tactics and respond to commands from any officers if you are contacted.

FCI wants everyone to be aware that the LA County Gun Task Force is lead by agents from BATFE; LAPD and LASO. They appear to have focused their attention on members of the fifty caliber community and are aggressively trying to arrest law abiding citizens for just being "Gun Owners".

In the situation that occurred this past Monday the victim had his entire firearms collection seized and he was told charges are going to be filed because he had in his possession linked ammunition in quantities of more than 10 rounds of ammunition at a time. This has been interpreted as a violation of the "High Capacity Magazine" portion of the Assault Weapons Act in CA. The victim owns a Semi-auto M2; a semi-auto M3 and a 30 caliber semi-auto 1919

Everyone living in California needs to pay attention to what is happening in Los Angeles. This can happen to you simply because someone who knows about your firearms calls the LA Gun Task Force and gives them information they interpret as a violation of the Draconian Gun Laws they have been passing for the last five years.

We are asking everyone to review what you have in your gun safe or workshop. Take the time to find out what is against the law and what is not. Remember, our first reported incident was over a flash hider on an M-1A and some armor piercing projectiles. Don't let this happen to YOU.

We are not able to identify the person involved in the incident on Monday or give you any more info about the circumstances about what occurred at this time. We will advise and update as we can.

John Burtt, Chmn
FCI

"...charges are going to be filed because he had in his possession linked ammunition in quantities of more than 10 rounds of ammunition at a time. This has been interpreted as a violation of the "High Capacity Magazine" portion of the Assault Weapons Act in CA." Just as possession of a Marlin Model 60 - still with the factory tags hanging off of it - in New Jersey is interpreted as possession of an "assault weapon" because said Marlin holds sixteen rounds in its tubular magazine. And possession of ten rounds of tracer ammo can get you five years in prison in California.

As the New Jersey court said, "When dealing with guns, the citizen acts at his peril."

They keep this up, some of that peril is going to shift.

Which of These Two Statements Is True?.

Please read the following story (h/t: Zendo Deb):

Fighting back

Woman defends herself from attack with gun

By Courtney Reese/Times Record News
September 21, 2006

A 38-year-old woman staying at the Homewood Suites in Wichita Falls turned the tables Tuesday night on a potential attacker in the parking lot.

The woman's father said she pulled her .380 automatic pistol on the man, who came up behind her as she was getting sinus medicine from her van about 9 p.m.

He gave the following information about the incident:

The man asked her, "Do you have anything good in that van?"

The woman knew she was in trouble. She told him yes and moved to the front passenger-side door.

She pulled out her pistol and heard a knife click open.

When she looked back, she saw the man was holding a knife pointed downward in his hand.

She quickly turned, pointed the gun right at him and asked, "Are you really sure you want to do whatever you're going to do?"

He took off running, the father said.

No shots fired. No one wounded on either side. No crime completed. One pair of stained skivvies.

How dare she act like Harry Callahan!

The woman immediately went back inside the hotel, alerted the staff, and they called police.

Her father said she was calm at the time, going into "auto-pilot" and remembering everything she had learned in the classes she took to get her gun permit, he said.

"Of course, three hours later she was a basket case," he said. "She felt violated and real anxious."

Not as violated as she would have felt had he succeeded in robbing her - and whatever else he had planned.

This wasn't the first time the woman had faced a trying situation.

Her father said her fiance was involved in a shootout in Houston, which made her realize she needed to take precautions herself.

"When that happens to somebody close to you, you learn," he said.

Unfortunately, some don't even learn then.

So not even a year ago, the West Texas woman decided to get licensed to carry a gun, something her brother had been trying to convince her of because her job requires travel, her father said.

Sgt. Joe Snyder, public information officer with the Wichita Falls Police Department, said it's important that anyone carrying a gun be aware of not only his or her own surroundings, but also those of the attacker.

"You're responsible for where a bullet goes," he said. "You don't want to hit innocent bystanders."

But even more than that, Snyder said a weapon should not be used as a scare tactic.

"If you are going to pull a weapon, you should be prepared to use it."

In general, it's best to travel in pairs went it's dark outside, Snyder said.

"Park in well-lighted, well-traveled areas so you aren't put in a one-on-one scenario," he said.

The woman who was accosted is one of more than 150,000 people in Texas licensed to carry firearms. In Texas, carrying a loaded handgun in a vehicle is legal when the owner is traveling a substantial distance.

(Just so you know, 150,000 represents less than 1% of the eligible population of Texas.)

A couple of years ago I had a long, drawn out cross-blog discussion with Australian Tim Lambert over laws restricting weapons. In one post defending restrictive laws, Tim stated the following:

If the law disarms attackers, then it can make self defence possible where it would have been impossible if the attacker was armed.

Reader Sarah of Carnaby Fudge slightly re-worded that statement in a comment:

If the law disarms citizens, then it can make self defence impossible where it would have been possible if the citizen was armed.

Which of these two statements is demonstrably true, and why?

I Hereby Reiterate My Promise...

...to kick Ted Rall in the crotch (I doubt he has any balls) if I ever meet him in person:

On top of that, I'm pretty sure he wants to be dominated by her.

For some reason, Robert Mapplethorpe photos come to mind...

Hiatus. Again.

Sorry, folks, but given the amount of work I'm doing at the present time, blogging's got to take a back seat. My apologies for the free ice cream shortage. Perhaps I'll be able to blog more during my upcoming two weeks off in October, but in the mean time, things are going to be damned sparse around TSM.

Four Years!?!?.

Isn't that, like, 28 in Internet years?

The Carnival of the Vanities celebrates its 208^th incarnation at its new home, First Carnival. According to the opening paragraph:

Four years ago, something happened that was to change the face of blogging: CotV #1 appeared. The very first edition of the Carnival of the Vanities featured 15 participants. Of those, I’m aware of 9 who are still blogging.

That's pretty amazing when you think about the ephemeral nature of most blogs.

Anyway, congratulations on the big 4.0!

Time's Running Out!.

If you're not already registered, you've got two days to do so, or your room rate will be much higher.

Click on the picture for all you need to know to join us at the Reno Rendezvous!

Stories the MSM Doesn't Tell.

Perusing my archives I came across this post about 72 year-old Lena Haddix of Lawton, OK who volunteered for deployment as a civilian Department of Defense employee to the Middle East. That was in November of 2004. Now I find this story about Ms. Haddix:

DALLAS, Jan. 9, 2006 — Folks in Oklahoma are readjusting to an image not typically associated with the global war on terrorism, a 73-year old great-grandmother just back from Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Lena Haddix, a native of Lawton, has spent the last six months in full battle armor helping troops find snacks, shampoo and other American products at the Army & Air Force Exchange Service Post Exchange/Base Exchange in Camp Liberty, Iraq.

The personification of the Exchange's motto of “We Go Where You Go,” Haddix recently returned from her second voluntary deployment to the Middle East as a store manager. After previously volunteering to work in Kuwait, Haddix decided her work wasn't done and went back for a second tour of duty, this time to Baghdad, Iraq.

“I'm glad to do it for the soldiers,” said Haddix. She explained that troops came to expect her presence at the store and often called her mom.

“When the convoys would come back, the troops would stop by the store and shout, ‘Mom, we made it!’”

After being gone for almost a year, Haddix will return to the Fort Sill Post Exchange to continue to support troops and their families here at home.

“People like Lena are critical to the morale of our deployed troops,” said AAFES Chief of Contingency Planning Lt. Col. Steven Dean. “It is only through them that AAFES is able to deliver retail, fast food and telecommunication services that they would expect to find back home to a war zone.”

When asked about her time overseas and if she would consider going back, Haddix replied, “I’m thinking about it.”

AAFES currently operates more than 60 stores throughout Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. Troops can find a variety of items from basic supplies including socks, personal care items and beverages to comfort items including televisions, DVD players and movies.

That is just too cool!