Thursday, January 29, 2009

Nice timing

I've recently blogged about the disarmament policy at Virginia Commonwealth university.

Well the timing couldn't be better, because the man in charge of enforcing that policy, VCU Chief of Police William Fuller, was just arrested for soliciting sex from a 14-year old girl.

Read the story here

Even better, when a student applies in writing to the president of the university for permission to carry as per Virginia Code 8VAC90-10-50, they receive a letter of denial from this man's office.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

What Calibers do you keep stocked?

This post over at Snowflakes in Hell inspired me to make a list of my own.

I consider my stockpile to be dangerously low at the moment, but I'm not willing to pay the premium being charged for ammunition these days, especially since I'm just beginning to get into reloading.

In random order.

1. 7.62x39mm - My go-to SHTF round. Roughly 1000 rds, not nearly enough. About 500 rds ready to go in 30 and 40 round magazines, with one 100 rd drum.

2. .45 - My carry pistol, about 700 rounds mix of ball and defensive HP, 10 magazines full

3. 9mm - I just use this for target shooting, so only about 100-150 rounds at a time

4. .22 - Usually a brick or two, I'm in the market for a .22 pistol or a .22 slide for my 1911, so I'll being stocking a bit more in the future.

5. .38 Special - 100 rounds or so for target practice with my wheelgun.

6. .357 - About 50 rounds for when I OC my wheelgun.

7. 30-06 - Primary hunting and precision shooting ammo. 400 rounds, mostly Korean surplus M2 Ball, about 100 rounds of Federal and Black Hills 168gr match. My Garand is on the way from CMP with another ~200 rds in stripper clips, and I've also recently acquired a reloading setup for 30-06.

8. .380 ACP - Ammo for my BUG, about 100 rds assorted.

9. .17 HMR - 150 or so rounds for varmint and paper punching.

10. 12 gauge - not really sure, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 rounds, assortment of all types, from tactical slug to target load.

11. Can't forget the blackpowder. My only limit is primers, as I can manufacture the powder, ball, etc. myself.

Used to have a .40 XD but swapped it for a .380 BUG a while ago. If I every buy a dedicated competition gun it will be a .40.

I should start stocking up on .223 awaiting my AR upper, but the prices are thru the roof.

I'm seriously considering getting a Mosin-Nagant, SVT-40, or Dragunov copy so I can shoot the extremely cheap but powerful (and corrosive) 7.62x54R.

Nonetheless, I consider myself a below average firearm collector, but my meager ammunition stockpile is enough to give the anti's a coronary, and I would most certainly be affected by some of the anti-"stockpile" legislation that has been proposed.

Stimulus package cost = $10,000 per family!



This is outrageous.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

VCU Disarmament Policy, part 3

I was just linked by War on Guns. Thanks to David Codrea, this is a big help to getting my blog out there on the intarwebz.

His comments:
My own thoughts are to do what I think is necessary--a hell of a risk to demand a free man to take. You can only marvel at the evil mind that thought that one up, and the ignorant ones that think it makes them safer.
I happen to agree, and I should note, the disarmament policy is met with widespread noncompliance by freedom loving students (and at least one professor I know of) on a daily basis on campus.

Check out discussion of this over at VA OCDO.

Socialism is not the answer

As I was perusing Drudge Report yesterday, I noticed this article on the collapse of the Icelandic government following the economic collapse that occurred a few months ago.

The causes of Iceland's financial woes are similar to the problems our nation currently faces: Rapid expansion, deficit spending, inflation, unemployment, foreign debt, and a devalued currency.

I shook my head as I read further:

Haarde's government has nationalized banks and negotiated about $10 billion in loans from the IMF and individual countries.

"Fools," I thought. "When will the world wake up and realize that socialism is not the answer, and you cannot spend your way out of debt."

Then, with disbelief in horror, I clicked on another article linked by Drudge.

Pelosi: Nationalization of Banks Possible

Some will never learn.

Monday, January 26, 2009

New Shotgun Sights




Article here. Makes me realize that I really,really need to go to SHOT Show.

Although I prefer red-dot CCO's for speed with my tactical shotty, these seem like a great backup, and nearly as fast. The concept behind them, simply put the tip of the triangle where you want to hit is so simple I am amazed we haven't seen it before on iron sights.

Update to VCU Disarmament Policy

Original post here

Lots of informative discussion on this thread at VA OCDO.

Looks like being asked to leave, and charged with trespass if you refuse is covered.

When the accused is a licensee, invitee, or visitor, authorization to remain on the campus or other facilities used by the university may be withdrawn, and he may be directed to leave the premises. Failure to leave or unauthorized return may subject the individual to applicable penalties under city, county, or state laws. A licensee, invitee, or visitor may petition the president of the university in writing to authorize a hearing before the University Hearing Board to determine whether there are proper and sufficient grounds for being excluded from university premises. The University Hearing Board shall present its recommendations directly to the president. There will be no further appeal.
From 8VAC90-10-150. Penalties against a licensee or invitee.

Thanks to TexasNative for pointing this out.

The question remains, what rights does a Virginia citizen have to be on the property of a Virginia public university.

EDIT: Some who are not familiar with the City of Richmond may ask, "why is this a big issue, just stay away from VCU." Unfortunately, VCU sprawls across the city, from the capital all the way to the edge of the Fan residential district. It is very difficult to enter, exit, or travel through large parts of the city without passing through the university.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

New blog by 2nd Amendment Scholar

David E. Young now has a blog. And his first post probably contains more useful information than in the entirety of most firearms rights blogs, including this one.

Thanks to Snowflakes in Hell

VCU Disarmament Policy

I attend Virginia Commonwealth University. If you are not familiar with this school:

Virginia Commonwealth University is the largest university in Virginia and ranks among the top 100 universities in the country in sponsored research. Located on two downtown campuses in Richmond, VCU enrolls 32,000 students in 205 certificate and degree programs in the arts, sciences and humanities.


A legal question exists in Virginia as to whether or not carrying a firearm at VCU is against the law. The VCDL website lists VCU as off-limits to carry, and it is mentioned in most CCW classes as an off-limits location. This is because of 8VAC90-10-50, a section of Virginia Administrative Code that covers the code of conduct at VCU.

Specifically,

...no person, either singly or in concert with others, shall willfully... Have in his possession any firearm, other weapon, or explosive, regardless of whether a license to possess the same has been issued, without the written authorization of the president of the university. This restriction does not apply to persons whose duties lawfully require the possession of firearms or other weapons.


However, this is not Criminal Code, and violating Administrative Code is not a crime. Furthermore, this section of State Administrative Code was drafted by the VCU Board of Visitors, NOT the State Legislature. The authority to do this was granted by 23-50.10.

Another problem with this "law" is that it would be impossible to fairly enforce. VCU is a spread out, urban university, and city property and VCU property blend together with no clear definition. To effectively enforce this law, VCU would need to post hundreds if not thousands of signs deliniating the boundaries to its property. But hey, its all public property anyway, so this should really be a non-issue.

Also, Virginia has a state preemption law pertaining to firearms laws. This law essentially prevents localities and agencies from making any firearms related laws or ordinances. However, this does not currently apply to VCU (or other public universities), as it is part of the state government. VCDL is currently pushing legislation to expand preemption to state agencies.

Further invalidating this prohibition, is a recent Attorney General opinion. (.pdf)

This opinion states:

Governing boards of Virginia’s public colleges and universities may not impose general prohibition on carrying of concealed weapons by permitted individuals.


Further reading of the opinion seems to indicate that universities CAN deny its students and faculty the Right to Carry, but it may not deny this right to non-student/faculty. Even as it does apply to students/faculty, it may not apply when someone is not on the property in the capacity of a student or employee. This creates yet another enforcement headache.

The current state of firearms law in Virginia is flawed, because state agencies such as universities, public housing, and wildlife management are permitted to create policies that are contradictory to state law. Unfortunately, these policies are often adopted with little or no legislative review into Virginia Adminstrative Code.

The VCU issue is badly in need of a test case. My personal opinion is that a non-student faculty could carry on VCU legally. If they chose to open carry, I imagine they would have an unpleasant encounter with VCU police and be asked to leave VCU property (wherever that ends). I believe that a police order to leave the public areas of a public university without cause would be an illegal order, but refusal to do so would most likely end up with a trip to jail and a trespass charge. This would then be the test case that we have been waiting for (and possibly a settlement for the OC'er).

I can only hope that the VCDL is successful in gaining full state preemption, and this issue can be resolved without such an unpleasant incident.

Update: ProShooter over at the VA OCDO forums pointed out another exception to this rule that I missed.

His post:

This issue is raised every once in a while in our classes. While you quoted an important part of the statute, you need to back it up a bit to get the full definition. Therein lies the answer to the question...

8VAC90-10-50. The right to academic freedom and to equal educational and occupational access.

The university is committed to providing an environment conducive to academic freedom, free inquiry, and equal access to educational and occupational opportunities. The principle of academic freedom requires all persons to respect another's dignity, to acknowledge another's right to express differing opinions, to cultivate and to cherish intellectual honesty, and to promote freedom of inquiry and expression. It is therefore the policy of the university that no act of any member of the university community shall serve to restrain or inhibit access to opportunities or the exercise of these freedoms. To that end, no person, either singly or in concert with others, shall willfully:

4. Have in his possession any firearm, other weapon, or explosive, regardless of whether a license to possess the same has been issued, without the written authorization of the president of the university. This restriction does not apply to persons whose duties lawfully require the possession of firearms or other weapons.

The phrase "To that end" starts off the "no person shall have a firearm" clause. "To that end" refers back to the previous sentence that references "members of the university community". These members are of course students, teachers and other employees. They are the only prohibited group of people who cannot carry at VCU, and the only group of people that VCU holds any authority over.

ETA - This is of course my opinion and reading. Feel free to consult an attorney for legal advice.
It should be important to note that ProShooter, while not a lawyer, runs the Richmond area firearms training company Proactive Shooters.

EDIT 2: Another update here.

EDIT 3: Tertiary Update here.

It just keeps getting better - Four days after I first posted this the VCU Chief of Police is arrested for soliciting sex from a 14 year old.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

More commentary on Va Tech decapitation

From the left coast of all places

It is time to repeal gun bans from so-called "sensitive" areas, because time and time again criminals and maniacs have taken advantage of "gun-free" zones to spread their terror.

I find it striking that some news agencies are still reporting this as a stabbing, not as the drawn out, horrific crime it really was. Perhaps it is too frightening to them to consider the fact that such horrible things can happen in this world, and no amount of laws will stop evil criminals, who by definition have no regard for the law.

Thanks to Repeater over at OCDO for bringing this article to my attention.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Hell just froze over

Story here

And Caroline McCarthy forgot her long underwear.

Perhaps the coolest thing on the Intarwebz

Brownell's AR-15 builder

This is what I've been doing during my classes... thank god for the GI Bill.

Thanks to Sebastian for showing me this gem.

Rainbow Farting Unicorns

Day three and still no damn unicorns.


The good news is, the gun-grabbing underwear gnomes are also still noticeably absent.

David Olofson

If you are a gun owner and not familiar with this case, you need to be.

If your firearm malfunctions and fires more than one shot per pull of the trigger, (ie hammer follow in semi-autos, and some old double shotguns) you are a felon guilty of possessing an unregistered machinegun in the eyes of the BATFE.

Because the goons over at the ATF can't seem to get enough egg on their face, they decided to go after a 15-year Army veteran, married with 3 children, and a spotless criminal history. And aggressively pursue prosecution on a shaky case using shadier methods.

Much more information is available on many other blogs.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Murder at Va Tech

A young Chinese graduate student was murdered yesterday at Virginia Tech.

How does this relate to gun law?

Apparently she was decapitated in a cafe at a residence hall with a kitchen knife. While at least 7 bystanders watched in horror. The police arrived in a minute after the 911 call but it was far too late. (Remember, when seconds count, police are only minutes away)

Still wondering how it relates?

Virginia Tech, even after the April 16 Massacre, prohibits students and faculty from carrying weapons (especially guns) for self defense. While I'm not claiming that this law would have changed the outcome of this tragedy, at least 22 year-old Xin Yang might have had a chance against a deranged older man wielding a kitchen knife.

Details here

David Codrea (and others) agrees


I will be blogging more about disarmament of universities later.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

How to be a better victim

My university, in its infinite wisdom, has published advice to students on how to bend over and take it, err, I mean be a better victim.

From the University Student Health Services:

A student from New York came up with the “Two-Wallet Strategy” that he uses when out socializing. This strategy involves putting money and an ID into one wallet and putting money and a different ID into a second wallet or pocket. This way, if a mugger demands your money, you can give one wallet or pocket — but you will still have what’s in the other to help you get home.

Inspired by this student's strategy, we have created the “Safety Wallet.” It’s full of other innovative strategies for staying safe when you’re out socializing, such as the “Watch Your BAC” Strategy and the Party Smart Guide! You can get a free Safety Wallet at The Well as long as supplies last, so come by and pick one up!
Link

To give some perspective, this is the largest university in the state, with somewhere in the range of 35,000 students and faculty. It is an urban campus, where it is impossible to travel from one building to another without traveling outside of university property. It also exists in a city that is usually listed in the top ten per capita for violent crime and murder.

If thats not bad enough, legally carrying a weapon for self-defense is against school policy, and may be against state law.

More on this here

Ivory Towers of Education

Received this in my e-mail as part of a weekly "telegram to students"

A Socialist Perspective of the Gaza Conflict
International Students for Social Equality will give a lecture analyzing the history of the Gaza conflict from a socialist perspective on Thursday, Jan. 22, at noon in the University Student Commons, Virginia Room B. This event is free. For more information, contact lassahnjs@vcu.edu.


Sponsored by the World Socialist Web Site and International Committee of the Fourth International.

I see on a regular basis students sporting Keffiyeh's, pro-Palestinian propaganda on bulletin boards, and now this "Hands off Gaza!" lecture/rally. And all this at what is considered a relatively conservative state public university.

I invoke Godwin, and see no difference between keffiyah sporting socialists and swastika armband wearing Hitler Youth. While I sympathize somewhat with the plight of the Palestinian people, Israel is going after a terrorist group who preaches and practices the elimination of all Jews in Israel. Oh, and the Palestinian people elected this same group to govern them.

This is why I carry (and you should too)

Because there are a whole bunch of absolutely crazy folk out there.

Woman goes into an electronics store with a bow (and arrows) and a fake gun, shoots one fella, then at least 2 other employees with CCWs draw and fire on her. She retreats, and when police arrive to rescue the man down, she nocks another arrow, prompting police to fire on her.

Amazingly, she's in "fair" condition after sustaining multiple GSWs from at least 3 shooters. Seems like they need to either spend more time on the range or seriously reconsider their choice of caliber.

First seen here

Update: Apparently CCW #1 put multiple rounds of .380 in her, CCW #2 fired over her head to try to scare her, and she kept at it until police arrived 25 minutes later. CCW #2 fired over her head because she was apparently the mentally disturbed daughter of a fellow employee.

First Post

Well if anyone ever comes across this blog, they may ask... why yet another blog. The internet is over saturated with opinion pieces, "news," rants, and mindless puff about my cat fluffy. To be honest, I simply don't care whether this blog should exist or not... or if anyone ever reads it.

I am frustrated. I am fed up. I needed a place to vent. With the inauguration of His Holiness Obama, the assault on the US Constitution and fundamental human rights, and the slow and seemingly unstoppable slide towards socialism in America, I feel that the majority of the American public exists in a persistent vegitative state. What is more frustrating is my powerlessness to do anything about it.

So I will blog and I will vent and if anyone ever reads this I may post pertinent links to items of interest that are important to me and which I feel should be important to you. The attack on the US Constitution, with emphasis on the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 10th, and 14th Amendments. The dumbing down of America. Our slide into socialism. Gun news. Or anything else really cool that just needs a few more hits on Google.

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it's natural manure." Thomas Jefferson, Nov. 13. 1787