No swords in England!

First no guns. Now no swords!

A outright ban on samurai swords in jolly old England became law recently.

With the passing of this law, the "selling, making, hiring or importing samurai swords in England and Wales" is now a felony. Those unfortunate individuals caught with a samurai sword "face six months in jail and a £5,000 fine."

As an added bonus, "anyone found guilty of importing samurai swords will face up to seven years in prison and an unlimited fine."

Isn't that just lovely?

I think the best part of the article is this paragraph...

"Eight years ago a councillor was killed by a man wielding a samurai sword in the office of Cheltenham Liberal Democrat MP Nigel Jones."

So let me get this straight.... murders were committed with firearms so the government decided to ban those. Murders were then committed with samurai swords, so the government decided to ban those.

But there are still murders being committed every day! Despite all the laws in place! WTF?

I know what's England can do to fix that.... more laws!

So what's next? Maybe steak knives? How about forks? Eventually I think we will see a ban on rocks! Not just the pointy ones, but the round skippy ones, the decorative ones and perhaps even those rocks you make when you squish enough clay together!

Oh wait... they really are going down that path. The article has a quote from Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker saying "Later this year we will launch a new advertising campaign aimed at preventing young people carrying knives."

Unreal.

As usual, the anti-gun idiots are solving the wrong problem. Evil people will still do evil things regardless of the laws in place. The problem always comes back to personal responsibility. If an individual does not have any sense of personal responsibility, or is denied the means and ability of being self-sufficient, no amount of re-regulation or laws or fines will change the fact they will still do bad things with whatever means they can find.

Anti- gun idiots think the problem is always with an inanimate object. But there's a lot of inanimate objects about!

How about solving the problem the right way? Allow the licensed use of firearms by the general public. Ban nothing. But have severe, medieval-style no compromise laws in place for the instances of firearm mis-use.

I've heard rumors that specialized members of the military can use one or two of their fingers as deadly weapons. Whatever you do, don't let England know about that. A ban on fingers would be next!

What's with the Creative Commons license?

Long story short... I caught some of my images and material being used as part of another person's website. They were "assuming" the credit for taking the photos and the posts around them. They did remove it when I asked them to, but it got me in a cranky mood.

I don't mind the material in this weblog being used and re-posted. What I do mind is not getting credit for it... especially if someone else has gone off and "assumed" it for themselves.

So I went to Creative Commons and got a license for my blog entries. Its posted at the beginning of the weblog menu and is pretty straightforward.

To sum up, everyone can download and share anything from here as long as they link and mention this weblog as the origin of the material. There can't be any changes to the material and nothing can be used in any way commercially.

To quote an old saying... A sudden rain finds the holes in the roof.

A barometer of rice and flour

Well, this looks like an interesting week. Sam's and Wal-Mart (which are really the same company) are limiting sales of rice and flour at all their stores.

Costco said it will start limiting some of its store sales of these items too.

It looks like the worldwide food shortages, whether they were actually going to affect America or not, are about to become the de-facto topic of May.

I'm investing a little more of my next paycheck in extra water, some ramen, a few extra boxes of cookies... nothing MRE or "its the big one" kind of things, but if the panic on the food market takes off, everything is going to be phenomenally more expensive in May and heading into summer. And thats going to snowball into other areas of the economy as well.

Oh yeah, and gas is going to be $4 a gallon soon.

Buy a little extra this month if you can. Stay a little less stressed later on.

Sneaking a ton of stupid under the radar

Wal-Mart recently announced they were making some changes in the way they handle firearm sales in their stores across America.

Usually when Wal-Mart does something across all their stores, others follow suit. So when Wal-Mart makes changes to the way they handle firearms, you can bet these changes are going to be on a politician's desk for a larger scale push before the end of the week.

Among the "new and improved" changes are...

"* Expanding background checks of employees who handle guns and expanding inventory controls."

Well, yes, that actually is a good idea. Every employee selling firearms needs to be "clean" in my opinion. When I get to the point where I need to hire staff, I'm doing a full background check on them as well. But that last section - "expanding inventory controls". What exactly were they doing before though? Ballpark-guessing how many firearms were in inventory? This is Wal-Mart. They should have barcoded everything for instant access. If I can do that, they should be able to!

Unfortunately, the stupid comes in pretty fast afterwards.

Another change is...

"* Creating a record and alert system to record when a gun sold at Wal-Mart is later used in a crime. If the purchaser of that gun later tries to buy another gun at Wal-Mart, the system would alert the sales clerk of the prior buy and could refuse to make the sale."

Um... no.

Lets say Fred goes in and buys a .38 revolver. A month later, Fred's home is robbed and the thieves make off with the .38.

Wal-Mart is going to ban him for that?

In a more pleasant scenario, what if Fred just sells it at a gun show? Or on the side to a friend? Is it fair that forever and ever Fred is still red-flagged as the owner of the .38 in the Wal-Mart system, even though the firearm has long since left his possession? Where is the follow through to make sure Fred's liability ends when the firearm is no longer is in his possession?

But wait! There's more!

"* Retaining the recorded images of gun sales in case law enforcement wants to view them later as part of an investigation."

Um... hell no.

I'm never a proponent of law enforcement "fishing expeditions". And this sounds like the great lakes of fishing trips. Having a film of everyone who buys a firearm opens a pandora's box of interpretative wrongdoing. Who will define who looks "shady"? Or "that fellow looks like he's up to something!"

Now if that recording is used in conjunction with a legal warrant obtained concerning one particular individual, that's a different story. That's fine and dandy. But I don't think the "dragnet" approach, as the new and improved change is worded, is a good idea.

Finally, this one takes the cake...

"* No Sales Without Background Check Results. Participating retailers would prohibit sales based on "default proceeds," which are permitted by law when the background check has not returned a result within 3 days."

Wait a minute. This is a Federal law you fellows are overriding here. Federal. Law.

The ATF says it is perfectly legal to transfer a firearm to an individual if the vendor has not heard back from the NICS operations center in 3 days. Usually the NICS operations center will call me back in 10 minutes on a "delay". I've never had to wait more than 2 hours for an answer on any case.

But the three day law has been implemented by the ATF as a valid, permissible number of days a vendor and customer need to wait for a response. On every 4473 background check form, there is a section where you fill out if the NICS call comes in after the three day period as well.

If you want to change the law, go to congress. Amend the laws as they stand. Do it in the daylight for everyone to see. Pushing things through the back door only for certain stores to abide by is not only underhanded, it shows what kind of weasels are sneaking around to get their personal agenda through.

Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns is sliding a lot of grade-A stupid underneath the public radar. They're just getting started with Wal-Mart, and I will not be surprised if soon they start to "request" changes across the board in all states to support their views.

US halts commercial Salmon season

I didn't see this article get much mainstream attention, but the federal regulators of the United States have "cancelled this year's commercial and recreational catch of chinook -- the prized king salmon of the fish market -- off California and Oregon."

That's the first time this has happened in 150 years.

The reason? There are not any more fish out there to catch!

The government wants to re-seed the population and give the few existing fish a chance to recover this year.

That would be a good idea.

Get your salmon now. Without the West coast, Salmon is probably going to be very expensive soon, and might not be available again until sometime in 2009 if the population recovers this year.

"Survivalists" sprouting in urban areas

A recent New York Times article believes more and more urban people are becoming "survivalists".

The article starts off with your typical misinformed idea of that a survivalist is...

"The traditional face of survivalism is that of a shaggy loner in camouflage, holed up in a cabin in the wilderness and surrounded by cases of canned goods and ammunition."

Ted Kaczynski, line one. Ted Kaczynski, line one.

The article continues on with a full panic-and-mayhem quote from a book written by a former global strategist at Morgan Stanley (Barton Biggs) as well as interviews with people who have "normal" lives.

“Your safe haven must be self-sufficient and capable of growing some kind of food,” Mr. Biggs writes. “It should be well-stocked with seed, fertilizer, canned food, wine, medicine, clothes, etc. Think Swiss Family Robinson. Even in America and Europe there could be moments of riot and rebellion when law and order temporarily completely breaks down.”

What is apparently shocking to the author is that apparently more and more "sane" people are buying into this new trend! A construction executive in Dallas even apologizes for thinking he is a "survivalist" by saying “I’m not a gun-nut, camo-wearing skinhead. I don’t even hunt or fish.”

I love these kind of articles by the mainstream press. To be a survivalist, you apparently need to meet certain criteria.

1. Beard

2. Paranoid, twitchy personality

3. Heavily armed with military-level ordnance

4. Live in a very isolated location

5. Be the outdoorsy type... in a "Grizzly Adams was a punk wuss" kind of way

Nope. All wrong.

First off, I believe people are changing. A little. And that little change is for the better, actually.

I think the term everyone is looking for is "self-reliant".

Long gone are the days when families all had a deep freezer in their garage with meat and assorted other foods to last the whole month. Even further long gone are the days when more than one member of an entire family's surname knew how to use a firearm in a proficient manner.

And not buying an item unless you have the real cash for it? Waaaay long gone.

Now that the global-political climate has become more turbulent, and more and more people see their government of choice may not be there to bail them out of a bad situation, a little self-sufficiency is creeping back.

Finally!!

I don't believe in the popular view of "survivalism". I do think everyone should know how to use a rifle and a pistol.

I think you do need to have a reasonable reserve supply of real food. Not MREs or anonymous food in cans you will never eat with joy. Just enough real food in your home so you don't have to go to the grocery store every week.

I believe you can have a corporate job, dress as a professional executive, have a nice car, and still know how to use a firearm.

Incomprehensible southern twang? Completely unnecessary.

If things go very bad... Katrina says hello from Beruit style... I do believe there will be an initial panic. And things will be chaotic for a brief and intense period.

But I also see there is a deep goodness in people.

Well, most people.

After the initial shock wears off, individuals will come together. Communities will re-emerge. Depending on the character of those individuals in the areas affected, the entire region will recover.

You're not a climatologist if you carry an umbrella for a rainy day. And you're not a survivalist if you are self-reliant.

Hillary Clinton flip flops on gun control

Hillary Clinton, once again, has flip-flopped on one of her key platform positions. This time, it's on gun control.

In an article on ABC News, Jake Tapper caught her sidestepping a previous commentary in favor of a new and improved point of view. In the article, Clinton is initially quoted in a speech given in 2000 to newspaper publishers as saying...

"I believe we need a comprehensive plan to stop gun violence, and it is one of the reasons I am running for the Senate." Part of this, she said, was "a national gun registry."

Fast forward to 2008. At a Democratic debate in Nevada, Clinton is quoted as saying...

"You know, I believe in the Second Amendment. People have a right to bear arms, but I also believe that we can common-sensically approach this."

Tim Russert then asked "But you've backed off a national licensing registration plan?"

"Yes," Clinton said.

Waaaaait a minute!!! Hoooold on one second!!!

Common-sensically ain't no word. At least it's not allowed in the Scrabble games I play.

Right. Seriously. Most people I know have a certain number of key beliefs. Things that range from the 'personal preference' level to the 'I believe the whole world should be like this' level.

On the 'personal preference' level, most people only change their mind after some struggle, or a forced compromise with their previous disposition. "I kind of do like broccoli... if my only other choice is cabbage stew." Things like that.

Color preference seldom changes. If you like red, you're gonna be a red-liking person for long stretches of your life. That's how we are.

My point is, the further you go out in those belief systems, the less likely they will be changed easily. On a 'world' level, if you believe communism sucks nards, you're going to need some heavy, industrial strength opposition to get you to move away from that worldview. Same thing with the laws, mores, and rules of society. If a belief affects more people than yourself, its harder to change your opinion of it.

So Hillary Clinton, with no motivational forces whatsoever, suddenly changes a major worldview belief of hers like a feather caught in the slipstream?

Not buying it.

Not voting for it, either.

Rape a child, pay with your life

Right into the deep end, folks.

CNN has an article about a rapist in Louisiana who is set on death row because he attacked a 8 year old child. Louisiana says he needs to die for it. He (of course) and his lawyer (of course of course) say he does not.

"Kennedy was sentenced to die in 2003 for sexually assaulting his stepdaughter in her bed. The crime occurred in a quiet neighborhood in Harvey, across the big river from New Orleans. Besides severe emotional trauma, Louisiana prosecutors said the attack caused internal injuries and bleeding to the child, requiring extensive surgery."

The article continues... "Kennedy's appellate attorney, Billy Sothern, argues, "When we look at what it means to be cruel and unusual, this is exactly the kind of thing that raises these serious concerns of the constitutionality of Mr. Kennedy's death sentence. The constitutional question before the justices is whether the death penalty for violent crimes other than homicide constitutes "cruel and unusual" punishment."

First of all, regardless of the merits of this case, there is a really easy way around "cruel and unusual". Do 25 states agree with it? If so, it is not unusual. "Cruel" you can argue and argue and never resolve. Since the matter must meet cruel AND unusual, go for the "unusual".

But the heart of the matter in this case isn't the punishment. It's the crime committed.

"A lot of people think there should not be the death penalty [in this case] because the child survives," said Kate Bartholomew, a sex crimes prosecutor in New Orleans.

Right there. That's the whole damn problem. If the victim of a rape survives, regardless of their age, there is still a underlying mentality that "it wasn't so bad". That the rapist doesn't need to die for it! After all, "he's not a killer".

Really?

Ever been around a raped child? Have you ever seen what happens in their lives from that moment on? Or seen what happens to them as they grow into an adult?

Yes, they survive. After getting to crawl through the darkest caves of hell to get back home. How many years are wasted with questions that can not be answered? How many volcanic emotional upheavals await? How many other lives are ruined because of it?

The rape of a child is a apocalyptic deviation from the path an innocent soul was meant to travel. The abhorrent action was far and beyond the child's control and means to avoid. And the perpetrator will be free and clear to enjoy their misbegotten lives far far far before the child has begun to heal their soul.

The "its no big deal" mentality has to stop. And putting these rat bastards into the gallows is the perfect first step to making those perpetrators, as well as the general public, understand the seriousness of these crimes.

Meanwhile...

Wait here! I'll go get help!

Well, it was something like that.

Anyhow, we now return you to the Hunter's Mark blog, already in progress.

HELLO 2008!

Welcome 2008! Another 365 days of opportunity!

In the last few weeks, I was very busy taking care of our recent inspection results by the ATF. The store passed, but with a few notations for improvement. But like the old saying goes, "any landing you can walk away from is a good one!"

I'm in the process of creating a searchable database of our items as well as some new specials for the new year. I moved all the 2007 blog entries to archive at the main site (huntersmark.com) and am trying out some more in-depth website design software to move away from what I am using now.

Oh, and before I forget, Happy New Year!