Category: Guns

Monday Links

I normally start out with Reason links, but I always believe that when faced with a horrific event, it’s important to look for the heroes. After Hamas’s murderous rampage in Israel, I have a couple of links to heroes.

A paramedic (who happened to be Arab) who gave his life tending to the injured at a music festival.

An Israeli couple who protected their twin infants. The couple died, but the infants were rescued.

I don’t have a link for this one, but heard on the ACP podcast about an Uber driver who dropped people off at that big music festival, saw the attack, raced back in, crammed nine people into his car, raced them to an IDF base, found the base under Hamas control, escaped to another IDF base, and then waited with his passengers for a couple of hours before soldiers showed up to help. Unfortunately, he was hit during all of this badassery and lost his life. If anyone has a link to this story, please let me know so I can add it here.

Now it’s time for a couple of Reason articles.

This may be considered by some to be in bad taste after the protests seen in the US, Australia, and others in support of the Palestinian cause, but it’s an important point. We can’t hold protest organizers liable for violence done by people not under their direct control/authority. Fight back the protests with counter protests. Resist violence with proportional force.

No, Matthew Sheppard wasn’t killed because he was gay. Were the murderers homophobes? Yeah. But the more I read this case, it more reads like if Aryan Nation did a meth deal with a black dealer, and then killed the dealer in a horrific way after the deal went bad. It was more about the deal than the hate.

On to other stories.

Ammoland has an article about four questions you should ask during your next gun control debate. A lot of good points about effective discussion and debate as well.

From The Record comes an article about the largest DDOS attack ever recorded.

Ground News (which is a service I use to get a bunch of news stories) has a collection of them on 17 Broward County deputies arrested for stealing $500K worth of COVID funds. Shocked face emoji that it came from Broward.

Our last story is from Variety about Michael Caine retiring at the age of 90. Thank you for decades of wonderful performances.

Monday Links

Okay, we’re going to do the usual and start with Reason links.

As I’m sure you’ve heard, Diane Feinstein passed away last week. While I will extend my condolences to her friends and family, I won’t pretend to be horribly upset. And Reason encapsulates why.

Khan’s FTC is going after Amazon. I had a piece in here earlier this year that the FTC chairman/person/annoyance really doesn’t understand how online retail works – and it seems anything she doesn’t understand is bad.

And the FCC is going to reimpose net neutrality because reasons. Because it isn’t like they’ve had anything but hypotheticals to explain why it’s needed. Hey FCC, you want to fix things? Start fixing these stupid franchises localities make with internet companies to limit competition.

On to other things…

The New Yorker has an interesting think piece on someone learning about guns to write on guns.

The Brits had to temporarily mobilize part of their Army when a bunch of their weapons-qualified police officers refused to pick up weapons. Why? One of their own is facing charges after a shooting. The officers have since returned to their duties. I don’t know enough about the case to decide if the shooting was justified or not. But it was an interesting turn of events.

Light item alert!

Someone’s making amphibious campers that resemble Star Trek TOS shuttles.

Monday Links

Let’s start off with a story of local significance.

Last week, the local baseball franchise managed to wrangle themselves a new stadium out of St. Petersburg. Reason has an article explaining why that’s a bad idea.

Moving on to some presidential actions.

Reason has an article on the administration streamlining the rules to allow migrants from some countries to work. I imagine catching heat from New York and Chicago is lighting a fire on the issue.

Something to placate the environmentalists, Biden announced establishing a Climate Change Corps. I guess he’s trying to soothe that faction with the “romanticism” of the New Deal.

And to placate the gun prohibitionists, Biden announced a new Office of Gun Violence Prevention. It sounds like a good way to give government largesse to lobbyists and activists.

But Biden needs some wins on the gun issue – particularly as courts continue to strike down laws under the Bruen Text History Tradition test. This time, Cali’s magazine ban was struck down – again. Maybe it will stay dead when the case goes en banc.

Now, on to something completely different.

The Wirecutter is pulling their recommendation for Wyze cameras after the company’s blasé attitude to a security breach that allowed customers to see others’ camera feeds.

Time for the light item.

Here’s an article discussing how the American dialect diverged from the mother tongue.

Liberty Safes Debacle

So, first for some throat-clearing. I’ve purchased both of my big gun safes from Liberty. My current one doesn’t have one of those fancy electronic locks after multiple people I trust recommended going with an analog dial lock. Which made the salesperson give me Spock eyebrow. I also help my mom purchase one of their portable handgun safes. All in all, I’ve been satisfied with their quality. Which makes this so infuriating. But, probably not for the reason you think.

In case you missed it, Liberty Safe got themselves squarely in the crosshairs of the enraged. TLDR; FBI was executing search warrant of someone accused of being a January 6 rioter. FBI got Liberty Safe to hand over a super-secret default code for one of their safes at the accused’s home. Cross section of MAGA, FBI distrust, and compliant company that caters to the gun world results in calls for Liberty Safes to be boycotted. If there’s one thing the gun world likes to do, it’s hold a grudge against a company that’s wronged them. There are still people who refuse to buy Ruger or Smith & Wesson over things that happened almost thirty years ago. I still refuse to shop at Dicks for something that happened a decade ago.

Liberty Safe said it was in pursuant to a valid warrant. Okay, not great, but Liberty is not Apple. They don’t have the legal resources to tell the Feds to go pound sand while they fight a warrant in court. Here’s the rub IMHO. Locksmiths have been saying that Liberty has denied for years that such a code exists. Rather than handing it out or even charging for access to it, they’ve been forcing customers to drill out non-working electronic locks (or locks where they forgot their passcode). That’s not how you deliver on a reputation for customer service.

I don’t call for boycotts. I hate the whole demanding that companies take stances instead of delivering products. I will, however, state that this kind of customer service should be taken into account. Will I ever buy a Liberty safe again? I don’t know. It’s not like I expect to be in the market anytime soon. We shall see how events unfold.

Monday Links

This one might be a bit scattered. As usual, we’ll start with Reason.

The Biden Administration is proposing a large increase in federal worker pay. It’s the annual pay raise that federal workers get as a COLA. Wow, the same inflation fueled by profligate spending results in government workers need higher wages.

Here’s an article on how fast-food joints are being attacked.

Finally, we have Reason’s coverage of the New Mexico governor’s blatantly unconstitutional “public safety order” banning carrying of guns. Yeah, this was clearly a publicity stunt. And it looks like it’s backfiring. Spectacularly. Particularly when she gets her own officials saying they won’t enforce or defend. Particularly with a US judge quickly handing down a TRO. Particularly when she is forced to narrow it down to playgrounds in Albuquerque.

I’ve got a couple articles from The Hill.

First, some school districts are looking at four-day work week due to teacher shortages and needing to prevent burnout. That will have interesting downstream impacts on parents who will need to figure out childcare.

Second, an article on how most women still take their husband’s last name after marriage. However, there’s an uptick of younger women keeping their maiden name. The Wife and I had the discussion if she wanted to take my last name when we got married. She’d built a strong work reputation on her maiden name, and there were some downsides of the change. Still, like most of the women in the study, she chose to take my last name.

On to some gun stuff.

Kevin Creighton muses on if there really is a Gun Culture 3.0 or if it’s more a matter of Gun Culture 2.5.

The British military has selected an AR-pattern rifle for its Royal Marine Commandos and Ranger battalions. I wonder when they’ll finally ditch the L85 series.

And Beretta’s got a new AR-pattern rifle. I kinda like their ARX-160, but it was never in the running for my home defense carbine. Beretta can be kinda weird sometimes.

I heard about this on ACP. A Michigan ammo manufacturer pissed off a politician, who then used campaign finance laws to threaten the company.

A couple of miscellaneous items.

War Is Boring has an article on China sanctioning LockMart and Northrop Grumman over sales to Taiwan. I think the phrase is “don’t threaten me with a good time.”

Rwanda is allowing a company to test a small-scale nuke reactor. Excellent. Wide spread cheap and carbon-neutral energy will do wonders to help lift people out of poverty.

Finally the light items.

WaPo talks about the 20th anniversary of the pumpkin spice latte.

Crunchyroll has announced the second season of Spy X Family will be debuting on Oct 7. Which I am looking forward to because the first season was uproariously funny.

Monday Links

This is going to be a little light – volume, not tone – this week. Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday.

First, from CNN, the mayor of Uvalde is calling on the DA to resign because she’s blocking their investigation into the school shooting. One hopes that someone actually suffers real consequences for the pathetic police response.

WaPo reports that DC is to pay $5.1 million to citizens for violating their Second Amendment rights. It would be nice if they could force the lawmakers who passed these laws to cough up the cash instead of passing it on to the taxpayers.

The Hill has a “Republicans pounce” article on DOE proposing new efficiency rules for ceiling fans. Do you want Florida to secede? Make it harder for us to get/afford ceiling fans. Because that’s how you get Florida to secede.

The Volokh Conspiracy discusses if Floridians can shoot looters in the wake of a hurricane. While I do not want people to run afoul of the law, the misfortune of looters doesn’t exactly move me. You help scavengers, you stop looters.

For our light item this week, we have a listicle of the 20 top female-fronted metal bands.

Monday Links – Catch Up Edition

It’s been a bit since I’ve done the Monday Links. So, this might be a little scattered.

Of course, I have some Reason links.

First, an article about how JAMA purports to track COVID misinformation while still claiming that the lab leak theory is “misinformation.” You keep using that word like that, and it will become completely worthless as anything but political rhetoric.

Continuing on pandemic related issues, millions of students vanished from school rolls during the shuttering of schools. Since reopening, they haven’t returned. Of all the carnage wreaked upon society from the pandemic, the over-extended school shutdowns may have the most lasting impact.

Following in educational trends, Arizona’s public universities have dropped their requirements for DEI statements for job applicants. Because compelled speech is bad.

Also in education, it’s amazing how well the movie “PCU” stands up, even after 30 years. It’s still one of my favorite movies – and I find it was more prescient than people think “Idiocracy” was.

Going on to other news sources.

From the Financial Times, we have an article that criminal hackers are targeting and attacking cyber security professionals IRL. Considering some of the folks I know in that field (cough, cough, Borepatch), that might not be their best course of action.

WaPo is reporting that a “record number of children were killed by guns.” Yes, I use the scare quotes. Why? I give you two quotes from the article. The analysis, which looked at children and adolescents from newborn to age 19, found nearly two-thirds of the deaths among children in 2021 were homicides. (snip) Adolescents between 15 and 19 years old accounted for most of the gun-related deaths. Can anyone say “gang activity”?

Staying with guns, Greg from Active Response Training debunks the oft-repeated idea that the sound of a shotgun being racked will scare off intruders. Yes, I believed this myth many a moon ago.

More guns, an article from NSSF on Philly suing gun retailors. Y’know, instead of locking up violent criminals.

From The Vulture, an article on the looming crisis of not enough “bingeable” programming for the streaming services due to their habit of cancelling shows after only a season or two.

The Atlantic has an article examining dissatisfaction with The Wirecutter in recent years. Particularly since its purchase by the NYT. Admittedly, The Wirecutter is still my go-to site for most things – and I enjoy their coverage of the big sales, so this was kind of a shock to me.

Finally, from Car and Driver is an article on the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser. I am intrigued. This may be a contender when we need to replace the Ward Wagon in the future. Unless these maintain their prices like the FJ Cruisers do. Forty grand for a ten-year-old car with more than 100K miles? Really?

Monday Links

This is going to be one of those heavy weeks for links.

Let’s start out with probably the biggest media story – the new indictment against Donald Trump. The Dispatch has had the best take on the whole issue thus far.

What may actually be the more important story is Fitch downgrading the US credit rating from AAA to AA+ (Reuters article). Of course, Reason explains why this is a function of our current governmental disfunction.

In that same vein, Reason examines the broken budget process.

Sticking with Reason, here’s a couple of gun-related articles. First, an examination of how New Zealand can’t keep its registry of gun owners private. Second, a law professor advocating officials hiding behind qualified immunity to enforce unconstitutional gun laws.

Keeping in the RKBA vein, John Richardson discusses the latest push to rebrand gun control as “gun responsibility.”

From Ars Technica, an article about Reddit not having to reveal user names who discussed torrenting.

From Vox, an article advocating using “windfall profits” from AI companies to fund a universal basic income. For the entire planet. Let me be clear – when you use the term “windfall profits,” your whole proposal sounds uneducated.

From The Atlantic, an article debunking the common wisdom on learning styles.

From Cato, a fun little game called “The Green Card Game.” Can you navigate the current immigration system?

From Your Observer, a local library is offering teens a course on “Adulting 101.”

Whew! We need some light items.

First, you can now watch the first season of the original TMNT.

Second, T.REX Arms has done a bunch of detail scans to make holsters. They’re offering those scans up for other companies to use.

This last one you just have to watch.

Monday Links

A couple of Reason links about cops. This is how you get BLM.

Police destroy a man’s business and stick him with the bill.

Arizona law limiting recording police struck down by judge.

From ABC, an article about the lack of infrastructure for recharging EVs. Something to consider if you’re looking to get one.

From The Verge, an article about a new tool that can do a lot of wireless tasks.

Still confused about large language models powering the new chatbots? Here’s a primer.

From Active Response Training, here’s a trick when practicing live fire with your weapon-mounted light. I started doing this after noticing the carbon scoring on my original Streamlight.

Monday Links – Catch Up Edition

Due to drama in the Ward household, I haven’t posted Monday links for a couple of weeks. So, this is mostly tab-clearing out some articles.

Let’s start with the normal Reason links.

Police keep harassing the wrong David Sosa. He sued and was joined by eleven other David Sosas. This falls into the police need to have more attention to detail and not just take the easy road. Particularly when it comes to detaining the wrong people.

Tennessee student makes Instagram posts poking fun at the principal and gets suspended. The student sues.

Finally, a judge has ruled that the ATF overstepped its authority by saying inert items are “gun parts”.

Going on to other articles.

The civil trial against the coward Scot Peterson continues – and apparently requires a live-fire reenactment. Article from local tv.

The NY Times’ Wirecutter section has an article on what you need for birding. I only add it to the links because the author neglected any dog treats. Which based on his history and his infamous viral moment, you’d think he would include.

From PC Gamer, an article that 87 percent of old games are unplayable without resorting to piracy of some sort. Umm, yeah. Blinks in City of Heroes.

From the Washington Examiner, an article regarding a study that disputes all the claimed benefits of the transition to electric vehicles.

FIRE explains that the current brouhaha over Jason Aldean’s little ditty is an excellent example of the Streisand Effect.

Finally, from The Verge, a new self-transforming Grimlok toy is being released. It looks nifty, but not $1,500 nifty.