Archive for December 2010
Opening the bubbly
Happy New Year, everyone!
Tempted to try this tonight with a big oldschool bayonet.
If I do, we’ll get video. And if it works, I’ll post it.
On Gizmodo via a reader.
Ruger Scout Rifle
This looks pretty good:
Ruger Scout Rifle
A short .308 bolt-action. I’m still a bit partial to the Marlin 1895 SBL for this sort of rifle, but this Ruger does look nice.
More info over at Gun Nuts Media.
More on Cleveland Restrictions
Here’s a little more on the story about the Ohio Supreme Court ruling that the city of Cleveland’s gun restrictions violated state law.
Two of the seven Justices dissented, but I find it hard to understand their argument. They reasoned, quoting an earlier case, that “in order for … a conflict to arise, the state statute must positively permit what the ordinance prohibits, or vice versa, regardless of the extent of state regulation concerning the same object,” and concluded that there was no conflict warranting preemption because “the Cleveland ordinances do not conflict with R.C. 9.68, because they does not permit something that the statute forbids or vice versa.” But how could this be so?
Which demonstrates that judges matter. 28% didn’t think that Cleveland’s restrictions conflicted with state law despite seemingly clear evidence to the contrary. If it had been three dissenters instead of two, suddenly Cleveland’s gun owners would be in a position where a flip by one person could change everything.
A New York Times story on the decision notes that outgoing Attorney General Richard Cordray (a Democrat) supported the decision. It also includes:
Ohio bans some assault weapons, like sawed-off shotguns, but Cleveland banned a broader array. [emphasis Murdoc's]
So, in which states is a “sawed-off assault shotgun” legal?
As a commenter on Volokh noted:
Glad they’re putting their most knowledgeable reporter on the story.
Yeah, but in New York you almost have to be criminal to be allowed to carry a gun.
Jeff Moss: The idiot of the day
Lunchbox mix-up leads to charges for Sanford teen
An athletic and academic standout in Lee County said a lunchbox mix-up has cut short her senior year of high school and might hurt her college opportunities.
Ashley Smithwick, 17, of Sanford, was suspended from Southern Lee High School in October after school personnel found a small paring knife in her lunchbox.
The lunchbox (and small paring knife) was apparently her father’s. The two of them have identical lunchboxes and it looks like she took the wrong one on the wrong day.
Then she took it to the wrong school with the wrong person in charge. Superintendent Jeff Moss is a poster boy for idiot educators.
FWIW, when you homeschool in Murdoc’s district, the superintendent takes you out shooting once in a while.
Via Instapundit.
UPDATE: Updates at Instapundit indicate that the school district is claiming the knife was found was found on the person of Miss Smithwick in her purse. The knife was not found in Miss Smithwick’s lunchbox as reported by her family and the media” and that the she has not been “long-term suspended.”
However, a reader points out the pictures that appear to show a bag-like lunchbox, which would invalidate their defense if that bag is the lunchbox in question, is not her purse, and is where the knife was found. Unless that bag also contained all sorts of stuff normally found in girls’ purses and not only lunch, they’re full of it. We’ll see.
Ohio Law Trumps Cleveland Restrictions
Ohio Supreme Court shoots down local gun control
The Ohio Supreme Court today dealt a fatal blow to local efforts to regulate firearms, concluding that a more permissive state law should trump restrictions on guns in cities.
In a 5-2 ruling, the state’s top court struck down Cleveland’s assault-weapons ban and registration requirement for handguns.
This good news comes via Instapundit, who writes:
Though the decision appears to turn on issues of Ohio law, I believe that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions in Heller and McDonald, by normalizing firearms ownership, have made a difference in how state courts approach these questions.
Indeed.
McMillan M3A
McMillan M3A Rifle
Via the Outdoor Wire:
The McMillan M3A has an 18″ barrel and utilizes a six-groove rifling with 1×10 right hand twist. The action is Springfield M1A chambered in 7.62 NATO (.308 Win). The adjustable cheekpiece on the McMillan M3A stock positions the head for an optimum cheek weld. The stock is designed to shoot with a scope as well as iron sights. An optional Picatinny site rail system with 10 ¾” bottom rail and 2×4″ side rails is available for mounting night vision optics, forward mounted scopes and other accessories. The M3A uses a two stage military trigger set at five to six pounds.
One-ten round magazine is included. Accessories and upgrades are available, including scope, bipod, cleaning equipment, cases and other options.
According to Ryan McMillan, vice president of McMillan Firearms, “The M3A rifle when coupled with the popular McMillan fiberglass tactical stock system is a multipurpose tool for military and law enforcement needs.”
Murdoc doesn’t have an M1A/M14 rifle and wishes he did.
2A Rights for Convicted Felons?
Discussion of not banning firearms possession for non-violent felons over at The Volokh Conspiracy.
For what it’s worth, Murdoc believes that this needs to be looked at hard. If someone is okay enough to freed, the burden should be on the state to deny him or her his right to keep an bear arms.
And don’t forget that those living with ex-felons banned from possessing guns are effectively banned from possessing guns. For instance, in 2008 a Washington man was sentenced to prision for possessing guns after his home was broken into because his wife owned guns. As I wrote at the time:
I’m not sure I’m buying the idea that a man who committed a crime when he was 17 can marry a gun owner when he’s 31 and she has to get rid of her guns.
Via Instapundit.
Chain Gun
Rummel has the rundown on a so-called 20-shot revolver.
I had never seen one of these before.
Merry Christmas, Everyone!
Merry Christmas to all the GunPundit readers out there. Hope you all can spend some time with family and friends.
Let’s not forget those who can’t.
Keep the celebratory gunfire under control.
Busted
700K Ecstasy tabs seized, Customs agent arrested
Prosecutors in Georgia say they have seized 700,000 tabs of Ecstasy and have charged a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent along with 13 others in what they say was a large-scale drug trafficking scheme…
Customs agent Devon Samuels is charged with laundering drug money, smuggling cash and attempting to bring weapons onto an aircraft.
Step 1: Get book. Step 2: Throw.
Command Arms Accessories
Just got this in the inbox:
WE ARE BACK IN COMMAND!
We are very pleased to announce that the assets and business of Command Arms Accessories LLC (CAA) have been purchased by EMA Tactical.
We apologize for any inconvenience the liquidation process has caused our customers and we want to assure you, that now more than ever, we have a powerful company manufacturing the leading products in the weapon accessories and parts industry. We are here to support our customers in every way possible. Our goal is to make sure that you, our customer, receives the best products along with the best service you have come to expect.
All CAA products are now available through EMA Tactical and Command Arms Accessories LLC.
Good to hear.
