Guns ‘n Stuff

Gun Fever

January 12, 2011 By mario piperni

There’s something terribly sick about this.

Greg Wolff, the owner of two Arizona gun shops, told his manager to get ready for a stampede of new customers after a Glock-wielding gunman killed six people at a Tucson shopping center on Jan. 8.

Wolff was right. Instead of hurting sales, the massacre had the $499 semi-automatic pistols — popular with police, sport shooters and gangsters — flying out the doors of his Glockmeister stores in Mesa and Phoenix.

A national debate over weaknesses in state and federal gun laws stirred by the shooting has stoked fears among gun buyers that stiffer restrictions may be coming from Congress, gun dealers say. The result is that a deadly demonstration of the weapon’s effectiveness has also fired up sales of handguns in Arizona and other states, according to federal law enforcement data.

A mentally unstable individual murders six people and people rush out to purchase the weapon he used in the massacre. Insanity. Since the Saturday shooting, handgun sales across the country have risen by 5% which leads me to believe that gun manufacturers must celebrate each time a madman decides to listen to the little voices in his head.

And here’s more data to consider: Arizona has one of the least restrictive set of gun laws in the country in terms of ownership and carry requirements and you are five times more likely to die from a gun shot in Arizona than you are in Hawaii. Concealed weapons require no special permit. And guns, concealed or open carry, are permitted in most establishments including restaurants. Not surprisingly, Arizona has the second highest tally of gun related deaths in the country. The NRA will tell you that there is no correlation between gun laws and gun deaths, but the fact remains that the states with the most restrictive gun laws just happen to be the states with the fewest gun deaths. Pure coincidence I’m sure.

In gun related lunacy…

A South Carolina gun and accessories company is selling semi-automatic rifle components inscribed with “You lie” – a tribute to the infamous words of 2nd District Republican Congressman Joe Wilson when he shouted at President Barack Obama during a congressional speech about national health care reform in the fall of 2009.

“Palmetto State Armory would like to honor our esteemed congressman Joe Wilson with the release of our new ‘You Lie’ AR-15 lower receiver,” reads a portion of the company’s website

“Only 999 of these will be produced, get yours before they are gone!” the website reads.

Does it sometimes feel as if it’s all getting a little crazier by the day?

Note: The gun store has since taken down the web page featuring the Joe “I Am A Lying Dick” Wilson assault rifle.
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Filed Under: Guns 'n Stuff Tagged With: Arizona, gun laws, joe wilson

The Right Finds Bogeymen Everywhere

September 7, 2010 By mario piperni

The right-wing rag, The Washington Times, finds nefarious motive in the U.S. blocking South Korea from selling vintage World War II MI rifles stateside.

It’s more likely that the administration is seeking to win the admiration of gun grabbers. Mr. Obama has a history of supporting gun control as a state senator and U.S. senator, but he’s been limited in his ability to implement this anti-gun agenda as president. Democratic members of Congress remember the federal assault-weapons ban as one of the lead issues motivating voters to turn Congress over to Republicans in 1994. Senators facing tight races in pro-gun states don’t want to see a repeat of that midterm landslide. Therefore, the best way for Mr. Obama to appease the gun-grabbing fringe is to take actions that won’t bring too much attention to what he’s doing. As long as the destruction of these rifles stays under the public radar screen, he will have achieved his goal.

Too ridiculous. As the DailyKos notes, if the President was seeking the “admiration of gun grabbers”, why would he keep the ban on MI rifles “under the public radar screen”? Why not shout it out from the mountain tops?

There’s just no end to this crap.

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Filed Under: Guns 'n Stuff, Lunacy Watch Tagged With: guns, political issues, right wing lunacy

There Are No Reasonable Gun Laws For Gun Nuts

July 12, 2010 By mario piperni

Photo credit: LA Times

The crazies are winning this fight.

More than a dozen people packing pistols on their hips strolled down the Hermosa Beach strand Saturday, picking up garbage and distributing fliers about the rights of gun owners.

The event was part of a burgeoning and controversial “open carry” movement nationwide promoting the right to carry guns in public. Although carrying a concealed weapon is illegal without a permit, California allows people to openly carry guns in many areas as long as they are unloaded, though they can keep ammunition with them.

Members of South Bay Open Carry, which organized the beach cleanup, said they hope such events will dispel misgivings about gun owners and make carrying a handgun in public more acceptable. Organizers said they turned the event into a cleanup to demonstrate that they are contributing to the community.

“Just because somebody is carrying a gun doesn’t mean that they’re a criminal,” said Scott Brownlie, a 25-year-old firefighter who stood outside Peet’s Coffee & Tea with an unloaded Colt M-4 Carbine slung across his back. “If a lot of people were allowed to carry more … there would be a lot less crime.”

Forgive me if I’m somewhat skeptical about these people’s intent. What we’re looking at here has less to do with battling crime and more to do with, as a reader aptly puts it, the steel dick syndrome. Does anyone seriously believe that the guy with the Colt Carbine cares about anything other than how wonderfully macho he appears parading about with his shiny toy slung across his back?

From a San Diego Union-Tribune editorial:

It is just not acceptable to have people in modern-day California wandering around while openly packing pistols as if it were the Wild West.

And it’s not just families and coffee-shop patrons who are troubled by the displays. The California Police Chiefs Association is among the supporters of the bill.

“Open carry is not just a threat to public safety, it’s a threat to officers,” [said] Emeryville Police Chief Ken James.

The truth is that there are no reasonable gun control laws which could ever satisfy these people. They want it all. To think that anyone believes that walking into a McDonalds with your child and finding half the customers packing heat is in any way a sign of a smart, forward thinking society is frighteningly ignorant.

Blooming idiots, the entire lot. Really.

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Filed Under: Guns 'n Stuff Tagged With: guns, LA, open carry, political issues, politics

Booze and Guns

May 12, 2010 By mario piperni

Virginia and Georgian have passed bills which allows patrons to carry guns into bars and restaurants. Tennessee is trying to pass the same type of law after their first attempt was deemed to be unconstitutionally vague.

What part of “guns and alcohol don’t mix” do these jackasses not understand? Rep. Joe McCord, a Republican state legislator who is not seeking re-election explains:

“Essentially, NRA is saying to us, if you don’t support and vote for carrying guns in bars, we will not endorse you. This line of reasoning borders on lunacy.”

“What line will we not cross for the NRA? At what point do we say that’s too much?’ asked McCord, who is not seeking re-election. ‘I’m sorry for those of you who feel you have to hold your nose and vote for it … because of the NRA.”

The idiocy of laws like this are beyond comprehension. Many saloons in the Old West had a ‘leave your guns at the door’ policy and now, a hundred and fifty years later, redneck states like Tennessee are being pushed by the NRA to enact moronic laws.

Hey, even Johnny Cash knew it was a bad idea.

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Filed Under: Guns 'n Stuff Tagged With: gun laws, nra, political issues, politics, tennessee

Get Your Guns While They’re Cheap

March 14, 2010 By mario piperni

Between gun crazies, teabaggers, religious fanatics and other assorted nutjobs, it’s getting awfully scary out there in the land of the right.

Speaking of vetoes, [West Virginia Governor] Manchin will be put in a quandary over a bill passed Saturday to have a sales tax holiday on firearms in October (HB4251).

Offering a tax-free weekend on gun sales potentially could get West Virginia booted out of the Streamlined Sales Tax agreement — an agreement between about 20 states, and retailers within those states, to collect and remit sales taxes on purchases (mainly via the Internet) that otherwise would go uncollected.

For West Virginia, that arrangement currently brings in about $3 million a year, which could be forfeited if the state violates the agreement by allowing a gun tax holiday, expected to save gun buyers only about $25,000 in sales taxes.

Legislators who voted for the bill not only picked up brownie points from the National Rifle Association, which was pushing the bill, but also knowingly put Manchin into a position of losing popularity points with some voters if he is obligated to veto the bill.

Apparently the ‘Obama-is-gonna-take-away-your-guns’ movement is picking up steam. Is it obvious enough that the right has given up any attempt at rational thought? It’s like one huge Glenn Beck Show out there…every hour, every day.

(Hat Tip: BalloonJuice)

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Filed Under: Guns 'n Stuff Tagged With: guns, political issues, politics, West Virginia