gejohnston

gejohnston's Journal

December 15, 2015

how to talk productively on guns

Interesting read. Basically, it boils down to culture war.
https://popehat.com/2015/12/07/talking-productively-about-guns/

November 10, 2015

A refreshing take from USA Today of all places

It mixes gun control and over incarceration in one.

Police are horrible, racist monsters who want to lock up minorities over even trivial violations of the law! And police are also the only ones who should have guns!

These two beliefs, it seems from my observations, are often held by the same people. Yet there is a conflict: If you favor strict gun control laws, laws that will punish people severely simply for possessing a gun or ammunition, then you will wind up throwing a lot more people in jail. And many of those people will be minorities.

This was the point of a talk by George Washington University law professor Robert J. Cottrol at a Georgetown Law School conference on guns and gun rights that I attended last week. As Cottrol noted, “Gun-control laws have a tendency of turning into criminals peaceable citizens whom the state has no reason to have on its radar.”

This is the part that stood out to me.

Traditionally, penalties for malum prohibitum acts were generally light, since the conduct that the laws governed wasn’t wrong in itself. But modern American law often treats even obscure and technical violations of gun laws as felonies and — Cottrol noted — prosecutors often go out of their way to prosecute these crimes more vigorously even than traditional crimes like rape or murder.

He even used Shaneen Allen and Ray Rice as an example.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/11/09/glenn-reynolds-gun-control-enforcement-takes-human-toll-column/75414186/

October 28, 2015

can anyone in PA tell me

when the state banned semi automatics for hunting and why? I'm guessing it sometime ago. It is the only one who did that.
http://timesleader.com/sports/outdoors/265308/outdoors-with-tom-venesky-automatically-opposed-to-semi-auto-rifles-for-hunting

After reading what Jim Zumbo actually said, I think he got a bad rap. He said using ARs and AKs for hunting, not ownership.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Zumbo#.22.27Terrorist.27_rifles.22_blog_entry

October 24, 2015

how to apply for a shotgun license in the UK

What I found most interesting was the age requirement, or lack of.

October 18, 2015

can anyone verify this?

A friend of mine sent me this link. Since I don't have any contacts in the British government, nor am I an expert on their crime reporting statistics. In fact, I'm not even an Anglophile beyond enjoying working with the RAF a few times.

If this is true, think of the ramifications for discussing gun control in general. How are each country reporting their murder rates and are they comparable to how the US does it?
Take for example, this tidbit.

Since 1967, homicide figures for England and Wales have been adjusted to exclude any cases which do not result in conviction.

and cites a paper written by former Met PD official Colon Greenwood on Parliament's website. It not only says that Jack the Ripper's crimes would not be included by the Home Office statistics. It also begs the question, does the increase in this chart mean "more murder" or "better police work and forensics resulting in more convictions"?

Here is the point he is making

The murder rate in the UK according to US standards is double or higher than their reported rate. It may be impossible to produce an actual apples to apples comparison number from official sources. It is not 15% of the US rate.

My question is, when we make these international comparisons with numbers from Wikipedia, is either side making "apples and apples" comparisons?
the link
http://rboatright.blogspot.com/2013/03/comparing-england-or-uk-murder-rates.html

August 15, 2015

another state legalizes silencers for hunting

Translation by Google Translate.

The authority responsible for hunting rights in Bayern authority – the Bavarian State Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry (StMELF) – In early August 2015 informed that should be approved immediately requests from hunters for the use of silencers. This innovation has been a long time longed by many hunters. What does this mean? You as a hunter can now submit an application, which is also approved as a rule from. However, some information you need to yet. -

See more at: http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/08/14/suppressors-now-legal-for-hunting-in-bavaria-germany/#sthash.eosgLmUe.dpuf

https://www.all4shooters.com/de/Jagd/Jagd-Kultur/jagd-schalldaempfer-bayern-antrag-gesundheitsschutz/

July 31, 2015

How do you feel about safari?

If Palmer violated the game laws that Zimbabwe, he should pay just like he did in Wisconsin.

I don't know anything about the value of trophy hunting in scientific wildlife management in Africa, so I am ambivalent on the subject. However, the guy, or gal, who puts a deer or elk in the freezer is more ethical, IMO, than going to the store and buying a cow or pig that met its demise at the hands of the factory farm system. It is more honest and more humane. Paying someone else to do your killing for you doesn't make you civilized. Does that mean if one of my furry family members needs to be euthanize, am I going to take it out back and shoot it? No, I'll comfort it at the vet's office until he or she is gone. However, that doesn't remove my role and responsibility in the death.

July 7, 2015

Norwegian territory requires gun toting.

I don't know if this belongs here or outdoor life, but I found it interesting and thought I would share it.

Svalbard, Norway
Svalbard is a remote island in the arctic circle, which is governed by the nation of Norway, although there are also many Russian coal miners on the island. Because of the ice and lack of roads, ice sleds are an important means of transportation. By law, all residents must carry a shotgun outside of the towns, and all sleds have a gun rack for this purpose.

Students in Svalbard are taught how to use a shotgun and ammunition to fend off polar bears at the beginning of every school year. Since polar bears can outrun a human in a matter of seconds, every student at the University Center undergoes weapons and arctic survival training. “It’s absolutely necessary,” said Gunnar Sand.

While on a British Schools Exploring Society trip in the Norwegian Island of Svalbard, a 17-year-old was mauled to death by a polar bear. The bear injured four others in the 12-person party before one of the group members shot and killed it. Polar bears typically attack with little warning.

http://www.politicalforum.com/gun-control/212112-countries-where-guns-required-law.html
http://www.outdoorhub.com/news/2015/07/06/video-the-only-place-on-earth-where-guns-are-mandatory/

June 24, 2015

Now this is an arsenal

Tarpon Springs, Florida — Investigators on Tuesday released new information in the case of an 85-year-old man who allegedly lobbed a hand grenade into his neighbor's yard that damaged a concrete slab and the house.

Police say this is a very scary situation. (no shit)

the list included:
various pistols
M-67 hand grenades
Claymore mine
SBR
SBS
silencer
SMG

Nine counts of felon in possession
to top it off

But again, he has not been charged for the explosion. But during his first court appearance, the state attorney's office did mention it believes Metz allegedly through (sic) a grenade in the backyard.

Police are still investigating.

Metz is a convicted felon with quite a criminal history that dates back to the '40s, with charges that include robbery, assault, and an alleged escape.

http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/local/2015/06/22/85-year-old-grenade-explosion-tarpon-springs/29125019/
Pet peeve, don't they teach people how to write in J school, or do they have lower standards for the online edition?

June 12, 2015

closing the railroad car loophole

An alleged thief and his fence have been charged in connection with the theft of more than 100 new guns from a freight train that was stopped overnight at a South Side rail yard in April, according to federal authorities.

Alexander Peebles, 44, and Warren Gates, 48, were charged in separate criminal complaints stemming from the April 12 robbery of the cargo train at 8000 S. South Chicago Ave., court records show.

The train was carrying 318 firearms from the Ruger factory in New Hampshire to Spokane, Wash., and had stopped in Chicago for the night, according to the charges. About 7 a.m. that day, a railroad employee noticed that several locks and seals on the train had been cut open, and police later found bolt cutters and a Ruger magazine in the yard.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-chicago-gun-theft-cargo-station-met-20150610-story.html

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Hometown: Rock Springs, Wyoming
Current location: Sweetwater County, Wyoming & Citrus County, Florida
Member since: Mon Aug 7, 2006, 12:19 AM
Number of posts: 17,502

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