Thursday, April 16, 2009

Obama to Back International Gun Control Treaty

President Obama will announce in a visit here today that he will push the U.S. Senate to ratify an inter-American arms trafficking treaty designed to curb the flow of guns and ammunition to drug cartels and other armed groups in the hemisphere. [More]
In yesterday's Gun Rights Examiner column, I talked about a "global gun control" column in The New York Times by Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, and I linked to the UN Firearms Protocol.

This is a more regional approach, but as you see from the signatories, it's nonetheless extensive. What the WaPo did not bring us is the text of the treaty itself. That way, their readers can make up their minds based on what their "Authorized Journalist" tells them to believe.

Here it is--read it.

Candidly, legalese makes my eyes glaze over. So I may be totally off-base, but according to this, could "illicit manufacture" of ammunition include reloading? What about people who make their own black powder rifles? And what's the deal with extradition?

Hopefully some fine legal minds will weigh in. I do note one reference that concerns me:
U.S. gun-rights groups participated as observers in drafting the treaty, which experts say includes language stating that it does not impinge on the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment.
I understand the motivation to do this--I really do. It's just that, to my mind, an American leader would tell foreign powers to mind their own damned business and keep their tyrannical mitts off our Bill of Rights if they know what's good for them.

I said as much in this old Guns and Ammo column:
Proposing that American gun-rights advocates confer with the United Nations is not only a waste of time and resources that are needed at home, but also lends such venues unearned legitimacy--as if the UN should have any stance on American liberty other than to shut up and learn.
Which resulted in this from my good friends at the NRA Members Councils:
Yet despite this, those like David Codrea, in an article in the September 2003 issue of “Guns and Ammo”, would continue to council disengagement, retreat from the global battlefield, and a kind of pseudo-isolationism that fails to recognize that there are no protective oceans to hide behind in a world-wide battle of ideas. It is apparently more important for Codrea and his ilk to maintain an ideological purity of thought, rather than achieve any of the incremental positional successes that could best guarantee eventual victory. What is more, it is hard to imagine how an almost Islamist-like exclusionary world-view will enable the Codreas of the world to convert more than the occasional wandering “Aryan” to the paradise of a rapidly diminishing gunowner “reservation”.
OK, pally. Looks like we're going to do things your way.

Less of a Man than His Mom

I have a natural antipathy towards guns in the home (I have known three people whose death coincided with the improperly stored guns in a house). [More]
Who have you been hanging out with, Scott? I'm trying to recall if I've ever personally known anyone "whose death coincided with the improperly stored guns in a house" (what the hell does that even mean?), and I've known quite a few gun owners. Nope--none in my circle of relatives, friends and acquaintances...

Not that I expect that to persuade you.

Here, Scott. This will probably bring you at least some comfort if you ever find yourself utterly incapable of protecting that wife and daughter you mentioned. Not that it will save you--or them--from that "tea-bagging" you're so pleased to know all about...

[Via W3]

"So-Called 'Gun-Owners Rights'"

Let me answer Luke Johnson’s piece, How so-called 'gun-owners rights' hurt U.S.-Mexican relations, LA Foreign Policy Examiner. [More]
John Longenecker shows more courtesy to an ignorant little pinko than I would have.

I'm debating whether or not to link you to the offending piece--on the one hand, I'd love to see some Threepers give this young creature a lesson in just who he's poking a stick at. But the more people who visit his site, the more he gets rewarded.

I figure you have enough information here to find him if you really want to. Meanwhile, go read John's piece.

MOWCA Changes Domains

From Paul W. Davis:
Due to the pending expiration of the arkansasmilitia.com URL, I have registered 2 additional URL's for the militia website. The new domain names are http://www.arkansasmilitia.org and http://www.arkansasmilitia.info which are actually more appropriate since the militia is not a commercial organization.

That's where you can find the latest on Wayne Fincher.

DHS Monitoring Known Extremist?

Coincidentally, I was looking at the statistics for tonysrants.com seeing how much traffic the site has gotten, from where, etc. See below for an interesting little statistic. The 12th most common visitor to my site is the Department of Homeland Security! [More]
It doesn't surprise me. He's also a member of the radical Weathermen's Denver cell.

"Inadvertent" Targets

One official said that led the agency to inadvertently “target” groups of Americans and collect their domestic communications without proper court authority. [More]
I wonder if it would be fair to speculate on which "groups"...?

[Via Ed M]

Kentucky Derby Stumbling Out of the Starting Gate

So, by decree of the Metro council, they have announced that they have suspended your rights for an area extending 15 blocks east-to-west, and 3 blocks north-to-south!

In blatant violation of the laws and constitution of Kentucky, the Louisville Metro county government has revoked the right to self-defense - and will be searching you at random to enforce their decree! [More]
The Pulse of KC3 recommends that gun owners fight this, up to and including telling the Kentucky Derby Festival "that you won't be spending your money at the Derby or any related events as long as this policy is in place."

And they're off...

[Via Charles R]

Psychoanalyzing Tyranny

By now, most of us should be aware of the recent "domestic terrorism report" that the collectivists have helped draft against true Patriots...

Just why are they doing this? [More]
Qi Ji Guang tells us, along with what we ought to do about it.

SPLCization of Law Enforcement

Vanderboegh tells us how those who would characterize patriots as enemies have inserted their insidious poison into the law enforcement mindset. [More]

He also tells us about a book I just received the other day for review.

Dropping in for Tea On a Brick and Mortar Operation

Newbius takes time off from the DC Tea Party to visit the Brady HQ. [More]

And all this time I just sort of assumed their address went to a PO box.

Fear and Greed Have Wall Street Journal Anti-Gun Propaganda Shooting Up

Excuse me? This is the WSJ talking? What exactly is the whole reason behind their paper if not to encourage investments? Are they calling every one of their readers greedy? Are reporters Alex Roth and Betsy McKay greedy, since I'm assuming they got paid for this hit piece? How about everyone else in the production and distribution chain?

Why did News Corp. acquire them? Why did a supermajority of Dow Jones shareholders approve the deal? Is there more than a little Gordon Gekko projection going on here? [More]

Today's Gun Rights Examiner column dissects one of the more blatant examples of raw hypocrisy I've yet encountered. These mercenaries have, do and would sell our freedoms out in a second if they thought it would enrich their portfolio--not that this inevitable manifestation of our fascist--rather than capitalist--economic system should surprise us.

Also get the latest from my fellow GREs, and meet an idiot New Orleans rep. who learned nothing from Katrina.

Tell everybody you know who has bought a gun and ammo recently that the Wall Street Journal is calling them greedy and fearful. And send them the link to this column to prove it.

This Day in History: April 16

General Lachlan McIntosh begins to move his Continentals south. Gwinnett orders his militia to stay in Sunbury. When McIntosh finds out about Gwinnett's order he tries to draw supplies to which he is entitled from the quartermaster. Gwinnett has the quartermaster refuse the request. [More]