An Education
Posted by EdFriedman2, Yesterday, 07:51 PM
Why does the Department of Education need 27 short-barreled shotguns? Well, I had an inkling it was for internal affairs, and that turns out to be correct. A spokesperson for the ED Office of the Inspector General explained the OIG is “responsible for the detection of waste, fraud, abuse and other criminal activity involving Federal education funds, programs and operations.” So, Arne Duncan won’t be busting-in with a SWAT team to remove homeschooled kids or make sure there’s no pictures of guns in school. What the OIG will try to do, however, is find people stealing funds from the ED, pilfering identities of student loan recipients and other, largely internal, issues. The shotguns are meant to replace older and malfunctioning models already in the OIG’s inventory.
A professor of mine in grad school once explained that of the thousands of federal officials who trained at FLETC, the vast majority were there for “inward-looking operations.” That means most federal law enforcement officials are tasked with enforcing the law against other federal employees. We don’t generally associate the ED with law enforcement because the majority of people arrested by an ED cop probably work for the ED.
Still, those are some pretty tacticool shotguns for such purposes…
Unsere Restauranten müssen salzfrei sein!
Posted by EdFriedman2, Yesterday, 02:32 PMNew York, New York…it’s a hell of a town. Angering chefs is almost asking for a night of the long knives, is it not?
Disappointment
Posted by EdFriedman2, Mar 8 2010, 02:42 PMAs you might have heard, we had Anton Chigurh’s suppressed shotgun from “No Country for Old Men” in the office last week. If you haven’t seen the film, you should. It is fantastic throughout every element of filmmaking. But, I discovered two things that came as a great disappointment to me as a firearms enthusiast. First, though the movie was set in 1980, Chigurh used a Remington 11-87, which obviously did not exist until seven years later. Second, the suppressor is fake. It’s just a big stainless steel barrel shroud. I suppose I always assumed this element to be more of a plot device than an attempt at realism, but given the film’s attention to detail in the scenery, this anachronism was a bit of a let down. And it would have been very cool if the suppressor was functional.
One Editorial Per Month
Posted by EdFriedman2, Mar 1 2010, 04:25 PM
In today’s Washington Post, the esteemed editors of the obsolete fish wrap have decided to incoherently attack the recent Virginia legislative effort to repeal the Commonwealth’s one-handgun-per-month law. The paper’s editors demonstrate a contempt for Constitutional rights, saying they “are not aware of any big problems that resulted from buyers being able to obtain only 12 handguns a year.” Well, for one thing, if a buyer wanted to buy a handgun for home defense the day after he bought a Luger at a gun show, he couldn’t, and that’s a big problem. I mean, come on Washington Post, are not the rights of the individual paramount? Apparently not when it comes to part 2 of the Bill of Rights.
The editorial also makes the claim that, “Research has shown that the gun a month limit has reduced by as much as half the number of Virginia firearms recovered in cities such as New York.” Let’s assume that the unidentified and uncited “research” actually does show these statistics. Why, then, is New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg constantly attacking our great Commonwealth for being a source of guns used in NYC, long after the law became effective? Could it be that gun traffickers, like all other criminals, are not dissuaded by laws? That, perhaps, by their very intention to violate the law, laws making that violation illegaler merely infringe on the liberties of the law-abiding?
Here’s a thought experiment: How would the esteemed editors of the once-influential Washington Post react to a law only allowing them to publish one editorial per month? After all, the pen is mightier than the sword, which makes it more dangerous, right?
A Great Article
Posted by EdFriedman2, Feb 26 2010, 03:29 PM
Here’s a great article on the hoops through which DC residents must jump in order to legally buy a handgun. There are 10 steps, including two trips to the rather dicey Anacostia neighborhood, where the District’s only FFL holder has his office. With taxes and fees, the price of a $450 handgun jumps to $819.50.
I’m sure DC is much safer than the more populous Fairfax County, VA, which, as the article points out, has the following process to legally buy a gun: 1) Go to a gun store. 2) Buy a gun (with the requisite instant background check). 3) Leave. Hmmm…Fairfax County had the lowest homicide rate of any jurisdiction in the United States, while Washington, DC, was the 4th most dangerous major city in the nation, so maybe not.
BIG NEWS!
Posted by EdFriedman2, Feb 23 2010, 06:27 PM
Or not.
Also, the earth did not crash into the sun.
Tip Off
Posted by EdFriedman2, Feb 18 2010, 04:23 PMMemo to BATFE: you might want to raid the Department of Homeland Security. After all, it has lost a rather large number of firearms. If an FFL dealer lost this many guns, the license holder would be in jail (with his house burned to the ground and his dogs shot). Just a thought...
The Luckiest Marine
Posted by EdFriedman2, Feb 16 2010, 06:34 PMThis Marine got shot in the head and was back fighting within minutes. Lucky, but more importantly, brave.
Enter Taxman
Posted by EdFriedman2, Feb 3 2010, 03:47 PM
In dynamic fashion, it seems.
Nice income you got there. Be a shame if something were to happen to it. A real shame. Fortunately, if you pay us, oh, 30-40 percent, we’ll make sure nuttin’ happens to your pretty little income. Of course, if you don’t pay, well…
Anybody See a Connection?
Posted by EdFriedman2, Feb 1 2010, 02:49 PM
The Chicago Tribune profiles Otis McDonald, the lead plaintiff in the Chicago gun rights case to be heard by the Supreme Court in March. Mr. McDonald is African American, which is both relevant and irrelevant.
Gun control has undeniably racist roots, and it appears gun control proponents, including those once funded at the behest of President Obama, are once again looking to ban African Americans from owning guns. But, the right to keep and bear arms is a right for all Americans, and Mr. McDonald is a fine example of an American citizen denied that right because of a law that will hopefully be struck down.
on An Education