Says Uncle:

In Chicago, if Pfleger or Daley assemble two people touting gun control, the Chicago Tribune makes a mess in its pants from all the glee. But thousands of pro-gun folks descend on the capital and it gets nary a mention

Pentagon gun was from Memphis police

And so was the gun used in the Las Vegas courthouse shooting.

They were sold or traded to dealers by the Memphis PD in accordance with department policy. Personally, I don’t really see a big problem with this. The criminal is the criminal, not the gun.

The story includes this about the gun used at the Pentagon:

At the Pentagon, gunman John Patrick Bedell carried two 9 mm handguns, one of them a Ruger.

Law enforcement officials say Bedell, a man with a history of severe psychiatric problems, had been sent a letter by California authorities Jan. 10 telling him he was prohibited from buying a gun because of his mental history.

Nineteen days later, the officials say, Bedell bought the Ruger at a gun show in Las Vegas. Such a sale by a private individual does not require the kind of background check that would have stopped Bedell’s purchase.

Is that right? Does Nevada not required checks for private handgun sales? In Michigan you are required by law to have either a Concealed Pistol License or a License To Purchase A Pistol which is valid for only 10 days, even for private transactions.

UPDATE: Uncle:

Oddly, no AP Exclusives when one of the cars that used to be in the impound lot is driven by a drunk driver and takes out a family. Cars, unlike guns, aren’t magical totems.

Lots more here.

Self-proclaimed vampire brings out Seattle SWAT

My guess is that the girls won’t be swooning over this cat.

Mattis pushed for 6.8mm ammo

Before Marines in Afghanistan received enhanced 5.56mm rounds last month, an influential four-star general advocated behind the scenes for an option that packs even more punch: 6.8mm ammunition…

The Corps first considered fielding 6.8mm ammo in 2007, after rank-and-file members of Special Operations Command designed it with their command’s approval to address deficiencies with the standard 5.56mm round, Eby said. Neither SOCom nor the Corps fielded it, in part due to the cost and logistics it would have required to make the change.

For now the Marines are going with the SOST 5.56.

I’ve also heard that at one point the Marines were looking at the SCAR and had some 6.8 versions put together for testing.

UPDATE: Comment:

I keep hearing that it’s simply too difficult for the mightiest armed force on earth to field a new rifle round, even if it’s demonstrably superior. So there’s no point trying.

I’m sorry but that’s indistinguishable from what comes out of the rear end of a male cow-type beast.

This seems unbelievable to me:

A Montana superintendent of schools said his replica black powder muzzleloader accidentally fired off a round while he was showing the weapon to a class.

The superintendent was giving a demonstration with a replica of a Civil War era gun. how on earth do you forget you loaded that sort of thing?

Then there’s this from the story:

The administrator said he dismissed the class after the students calmed down and immediately called the school board and the parents of the students to explain and apologize for the incident.

“None of them were upset with me,” he said of the parents. He said one father laughed until he cried during their phone conversation.

If you call me to tell me that you negligently discharged a firearm in my kid’s class, I’m not going to laugh.

From this week’s NSSF newsletter:

Huffington Post readers in search of a better understanding of gun ownership trends in America and the firearms industry can do better than to rely on a blog written by Josh Sugarmann of the extremist anti-gun Violence Policy Center.

Heck yeah, they can do better. The question is, could they do WORSE?

Starbucks, via the NSSF:

Starbucks Position on Open Carry Gun Laws
SEATTLE, March 03, 2010 – We recognize that there is significant and genuine passion surrounding the issue of open carry weapons laws. Advocacy groups from both sides of this issue have chosen to use Starbucks as a way to draw attention to their positions.

While we deeply respect the views of all our customers, Starbucks long-standing approach to this issue remains unchanged. We comply with local laws and statutes in all the communities we serve. In this case, 43 of the 50 U.S. states have open carry weapon laws. Where these laws don’t exist, we comply with laws that prohibit the open carrying of weapons. The political, policy and legal debates around these issues belong in the legislatures and courts, not in our stores.

At the same time, we have a security protocol for any threatening situation that might occur in our stores. Partners are trained to call law enforcement as situations arise. We will continuously review our procedures to ensure the highest safety guidelines are in place and we will continue to work closely with law enforcement.

We have examined this issue through the lens of partner (employee) and customer safety. Were we to adopt a policy different from local laws allowing open carry, we would be forced to require our partners to ask law abiding customers to leave our stores, putting our partners in an unfair and potentially unsafe position.

As the public debate continues, we are asking all interested parties to refrain from putting Starbucks or our partners into the middle of this divisive issue. As a company, we are extremely sensitive to the issue of gun violence in our society. Our Starbucks family knows all too well the dangers that exist when guns are used irresponsibly and illegally. Without minimizing this unfortunate reality, we believe that supporting local laws is the right way for us to ensure a safe environment for both partners and customers.

Starbucks Corporation
Stacey Krum, 206-318-7100
press@starbucks.com

As has been mentioned numerous times, this isn’t some big pro-gun policy on the part of Starbucks like some critics are claiming. It is simply a decision not to place further restrictions on open carry than already exist. Good on Starbucks.

Even though last month was down 1.3% from February 2009, this February saw 21.7% more background checks for gun purchases than February 2008 and is the eighth-highest month on record. Murdoc’s suspicion, given the current state of employment and the economy in general, is that private sales are also strong.

So while the Great Obama Gun Rush has run its course, gun buying is still a very strong market.

A round-up of Supreme Court links at SCOTUS Blog.