Monday, August 15, 2011

Gunstuff

Related blog posts:

d


Citations:


Everything else:
  • Libertarian Party's position statement on gun laws
  • http://home.suddenlink.net/news/read.php?id=18676542
  • http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/us/04guns.html
  • http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/22/local/la-me-parks-guns22-2010feb22
  • http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2011/aug/14/tdmain01-gun-crime-drops-at-virginia-bars-and-rest-ar-1237278/
  • David Codrea (2011:Aug.15). "Firearms crimes in VA bars decline after concealed carry allowed," Examiner.com
  • Victoria Pagan (2011:Aug.26). "Study shows women use handguns for defense, self-empowerment," Daily Texan.
  • Julie Bolcer (2011:Aug.25). "What Two Bloodied Tragedies Can Teach About Transgender Women of Color," Advocate.
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  • http://chronicle.com/article/Advocacy-Group-for-Guns-on/128561/
  • Joshunda Sanders (2011:Aug.20). "In defense of women and guns: Among women, the fastest-growing group of concealed handgun license owners in Texas is African American," Austin-American Statesman.
  • A blogpost I commented on
    http://foeda.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/we-will-never-agree-%E2%80%93-and-that%E2%80%99s-ok/
  • Jake S. PERMALINK
  • August 23, 2011 9:18 am
  • Please Note: Your comment is awaiting moderation.

  • “But even with that knowledge I cannot in good concience accept that gun ownership is OK as it violates something that is a personal value of mine — nonviolence.”

  • This is the only statement which sticks out to me enough to feel the want/need to comment on.

  • The mere act of gun /ownership/ doesn’t (by definition) violate the principle (or value) of nonviolence… at least not any more than owning a knife does.

  • Granted, I am probably not as principled about nonviolence as you are. My own personal line in the sand is about the /initiation/ of violence… not all violence, in and of itself.

  • So we differ slightly, but enough for the difference to be important… because we differ in philosophy. However, we differ not at all in action. At this point in our respective lives, I would be willing to wager that I have been just as “gun-violent” as you have (that is… not at all). Despite owning several firearms.

  • (I qualify the above violence as “gun violence” for two reasons. First of all, it’s what seems to be at issue here. Second of all, I /have/ been violent twice in my life… getting into fist-fights with two different people who initiated the violence upon me, in unfortunate situations where I was unable to talk my way out of it.)

  • That said, I really wanted to commend you for the “live-and-let-live” sentiment I felt throughout your post. I seem to be better friends with people who hold opposing views on this issue than I am with people who share my views. I go to lunch [usually] once a week with people who are extremely hostile to firearms ownership (and the social contract which guarantees this right). Yet we are /extremely/ tolerant of our opposing views.

  • You sound like a great neighbor, Lucy… one I would be extremely proud to share a property line with. :-)
  • d
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  • Speaking of debunking... it would be illegal (in contravention of federal law) for this bank to simply give a patron a firearm, unless the bank was a federally-licensed firearms dealer (FFL).
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Firearms_License

  • (I have /never/ in all of my years heard of a bank which also had an FFL)

  • Guns are expensive and, while the cheapest models can be had for ~$150-$200, a business would look "bad" (and potentially negligent) for using these "cheapo" guns as promotional items. If you go into a gun store, you will almost never find new guns in this price range. If you do find guns in this price range, they will almost certainly be "used" and in varying degrees of disrepair. To compare these "used guns" to a house, I would call them "fixer-uppers."

  • Most guns you find in gun stores /start/ in the $400-$500 range... and these are the types of guns that businesses would offer as promotional items to insure that the promotion didn't back-fire on them.
  • http://www.redstradingpost.com/pistols-c-561_565.html
  • http://www.redstradingpost.com/rifles-c-577_582.html
  • http://www.redstradingpost.com/shotguns-c-577_589.html

  • I have only ever seen this "guns for your business" model used by automobile dealerships, and that's because people are buying $30,000 cars and trucks. It seems /highly/ unlikely to me that a bank would do this for patrons simply for opening a bank/checking account (that would need to be /some/ kind of account...). And for the record, I live in Texas.

  • But let's assume it /did/ happen as the documentary alleged... the way it usually works in cases like this is the business gives the patron a coupon or voucher for a gun (almost always for a certain type of gun in the $400-$500 price range, so the patron doesn't try to buy the most-expensive gun in the store... usually in the "thousands of dollars" price range).

  • The patron then takes that gun to a [federally-licensed] gun store. He/she then picks out his/her gun and fills out ATF Form 4473. The gun store will then use this form to run [at a minimum] a federal background check (NICS). Some states have stricter requirements. It is only once the federal background check (again, as a minimum) comes back OK that the patron can leave with the firearm (not applicable in states with waiting periods).
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_4473
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Instant_Criminal_Background_Check_System

  • Further, it is a crime (federal felony) for a prohibited person to knowingly attempt to purchase a firearm. If a prohibited person attempts to purchase a firearm and the background check is denied, he/she will not be allowed to purchase the firearm (it would be a federal felony for the gun store to make the sale), and he/she will be investigated, arrested, and prosecuted (at the federal, not state, level).
  • http://www.atf.gov/firearms/how-to/identify-prohibited-persons.html
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_Control_Act_of_1968#Prohibited_persons

  • The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) is charged with investigating and enforcing federal firearms law in the United States.
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Alcohol,_Tobacco,_Firearms_and_Explosives

  • If you have any more questions about the process for purchasing firearms, I would be happy to answer them.

  • Also, if you can think of the name of that documentary, I would love to follow up on it and see exactly what type of gun this bank was supposedly giving away.


===============================================================

Virginia Tech timeline

Monday, January 30, 2006:
HB 1572, which would have legalized college students and employees carrying handguns on campus, dies in subcommittee
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/wb/xp-50658

Monday or Tuesday, January 30 or 31, 2006:
Larry Hincker, Associate Vice President for University Relations, opens his trap:
"I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus"
Ibid.

Thursday, August 31, 2006:
Grad student Bradford B. Wiles writes the editorial "Unarmed and vulnerable"
http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/commentary/wb/80510

Tuesday, September 05, 2006:
Associate Vice President for University Relations Larry Hincker writes his rebuttal, "Imagine if students were armed"
http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/commentary/wb/81277

Monday, April 16, 2007:
Virginia Tech Massacre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_massacre
http://freestudents.blogspot.com/2007/04/dozens-massacred-in-gun-free-zone-again.html

August 2007:
David Codrea sums all of this up in his excellent Rights Watch column, "A Very Sound Policy"
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_8_53/ai_n19313648/


Further Resources:


Update1: 2009 Beheading
http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/15209010
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/22/AR2009012200943.html
http://articles.cnn.com/2009-01-22/justice/virginia.tech.death_1_chief-wendell-flinchum-larry-hincker-graduate-student?_s=PM:CRIME
http://www.truecrimereport.com/2009/01/haiyang_zhu_arrested_for_murde.php


Update2: 2011 Campus Lock-down
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/08/virginia-tech-under-lockdown-because-of-report-of-gunman/1

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Gun Myths:

The "Only Ones" argument...

With the destructive modern weaponry available to the professional armies of today, what difference could one person with one gun (or "the militia" or "a small resistance group") possibly make?

The Founding Fathers could never have imagined weapons as deadly/destructive as those available today...

===============================================================

Training:

Recurring:
  • March (Pat Rogers at QTR)
  • Sept/Oct (Louis Awerbuck at ARPC)

===============================================================

http://www.weapon-blog.com/contests/
http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=1149
http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/08/28/us-world-firearms-idUSL2834893820070828

http://dailycaller.com/2011/12/23/a-familiar-pattern-as-sales-of-firearms-go-up-%E2%80%A6-crime-goes-down/

http://blog.al.com/live/2012/01/mayor_sam_jones_declines_to_sa.html
http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/members/members.shtml

http://savannahnow.com/bluffton-opinion/2012-01-04/time-look-gun-control-again
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/07/obama-unveil-gun-control-reforms_n_892633.html
http://www.momtourage.com/do-you-let-your-child-play-toy-guns?


The "Only Ones" Files:

Wal-Mart and guns:

Holding purveyors of anti-gun junk science accountable?
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-st-louis/holding-purveryors-of-anti-gun-junk-science-accountable


Rumor Alert: The Vehicle Gun Theft “Epidemic”
http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=7264


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Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Debt Ceiling Deal

http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/08/deficit-reduction


Related:
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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Project Gunrunner / Project Gunwalker

Here is where I'm parking everything related to ATF's "Project Gunrunner" and all of its bastard children.

First, let's define some terms:
  • Project Gunrunner: The official name of an ATF law enforcement project (project = wide scope) to interdict gun-running to Mexico

  • Operation Fast & Furious: Named after the movie, this was an ATF law enforcement operation (operation = narrow[er] scope) that was conducted under the "Project Gunrunner" umbrella

  • Project Gunwalker: Tongue-in-cheek name given to Operation Fast & Furious (not to the whole of Project Gunrunner) by National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea (the substitution of "walker" for "runner" representing a swipe at ATF's controversial practice of "letting the guns walk" -- that is, of *not* interdicting them before they crossed the border and were lost)

  • Operation Castaway: Operation out of Florida that also 'walked' guns... in this case, to MS-13 in Honduras


It's important to understand that "Operation Fast & Furious" (an operation under the Project Gunrunner umbrella) was only one operation in which 'gunwalking' occurred. That's why the "scandal name" of "Project Gunwalker" is more appropriate... to corral together all of the operations under which gunwalking took place.

That we know of, thus far, the following operations involved gunwalking:
Fast & Furious (Phoenix Field Office)
Operation Castaway (a Field Office in Florida)

Some Common Memes...

"Bush did it, too!"

"Isolated incident" (i.e. "rogue operation out of one ATF office")

"There are no laws against straw purchasing... we need more laws!"

"This was a law enforcement operation... not a political operation designed to angle for more gun control!"

  • "Bill – can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks.”
  • "Bill––well done yesterday... (I)n light of our request for Demand letter 3, this case could be a strong supporting factor if we can determine how many multiple sales of long guns occurred during the course of this case."



Eric Holder, advocating for background checks for private sales:
"Some citizens believe that they need to purchase firearms for self-protection. If the recent increase in firearms sales is attributable to people who may lawfully purchase firearms, that is the decision of the individual and not a matter that should be the subject of government oversight. If, on the other hand, any firearm purchased in this country falls into the hands of a terrorist because no background check was done, that is another national tragedy waiting to happen. Fortunately for our nation, there is an easy and safe solution.” [source]

"When high-level officials start resigning and taking the 5th, these hearings aren't trivial witch hunts in a political year."  -- LRRPF52


Best Resources:



AECA/ITAR* issues related to Project Gunwalker:

Per SCOTUS bar-approved attorney David Hardy, this gun-walking almost assuredly violated AECA/ITAR:

David Hardy (2011:Jul.12). "Did Fast & Furious violate the Arms Export Control Act?" Of Arms & The Law.

"This a lot narrower than the GCA exception for acts by a government agency, and for good reason: the purpose of this statute is to control executive agency actions. No gun running to foreign governments or persons without a paper trail (and in cases of large transactions, a prior request for Congressional approval)."

In [earlier] attempting to compare Fast&Furious/Gunwalker to Iran-Contra, and especially after reading David's blogpost, I began to wonder... it seems like a foregone conclusion that certain parts of the AECA would have been amended by Congress in direct response to Iran-Contra.


"On November 13, 1986, Wallison told Regan he had concluded that the AECA placed an 'absolute prohibition' on arms sales to Iran without prior notice to Congress. At an early afternoon meeting to prepare President Reagan's televised speech, Poindexter's deputy Alton Keel 'exploded' when Wallison tried to omit a line stating that all laws had been complied with; Keel said that this is what the President, the attorney general and the national security adviser wanted. Wallison reached Meese late in the afternoon to discuss the AECA, and Meese said he would have Assistant Attorney General Charles Cooper call him. When Cooper telephoned Wallison, Cooper said he was 'relying on a theory developed by the State Dept. in 1981 that there was no need to comply with the AECA at all if the export is part of an intelligence operation'."

Walsh (). "Iran / Contra Report: Chapter 30, Donald T. Regan," Federation of American Scientists.

I could certainly see those in Congress wanting to "close the State Dept. loophole," if you will, after Iran-Contra.

In looking at the "post-Iran-Contra period" (~1987-1996), I'm seeing (in the USCS from Lexis-Nexis) that the AECA was amended 3x in 1987, 2x in 1988, 4x in 1989, 2x in 1990, 4x in 1991, 5x in 1992, 1x in 1993, 3x in 1994, 0x in 1995, and 5x in 1996.

(Reagan was still giving Iran-Contra related testimony in 1990 and 1992, so I think going until at least 1995 or 1996 is justifiable)

Obviously not *all* of these amendments were in direct response to Iran-Contra, so I'm about to start delving into the text of all of these amendments... but first, I sent an email to David Hardy outlining my thoughts on the above.


Even though Iran-Contra 'broke' in November 1986, Ronald Reagan was still giving IC-related testimony in 1990 and 1992.

"In 1992, Independent counsel, Lawrence Walsh, was still probing the Iran-contra scandal, but Reagan was unable or unwilling to cooperate. When he took testimony from Reagan in July 1992..."
I was not yet 10 years old when the first Iran-Contra hearing was held, but I remember watching them (on C-SPAN?) with my grandmother.

My point in all of this (sparked by David Hardy's blogpost on "Of Arms & The Law") is -- or at least started as -- this:

Some of the apologists for gun-walking inevitably make "the 1981 State Dept. argument."

Namely, that because this was either a law enforcement operation, or an intelligence operation (or both), somehow AECA doesn't apply. My position is that, especially because of Congressional outrage over Iran-Contra, "that 1981 State Dept. argument don't hunt."



AECE = Arms Export Control Act
ITAR = International Traffic in Arms Regulations


Note: I was first alerted to the AECA/ITAR issues involved in Project Gunwalker by National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea, who commented on David Hardy's July 12th post:


More on the AECA/ITAR angle:



AECA, as amended:
  • 1986:Nov.14 -- P.L. 99-661, 22 USCS 2767
  • 1987:Jul.11 -- P.L. 100-71, 22 USCS 2764
  • 1987:Dec.22 -- P.L. 100-202, USCS 2761, 2763, 2778, 2796
  • 1987:Dec.22 -- P.L. 100-204, USCS 2278
  • 1988:Sep.29 -- P.L. 100-456, 102 Stat. 2037, 22 USCS 2761, 2796d
  • 1988:Oct.01 -- P.L. 100-461, 22 USCS 2753, 2796
  • 1989:Nov.21 -- P.L. 101-165, 22 USCS 2761, 2770, 2792
  • 1989:Nov.21 -- P.L. 101-167, 22 USCS 2796
  • 1989:Dec.12 -- P.L. 101-122, 22 USCS 2753, 2776, 2778, 2780
  • 1989:Dec.13 -- P.L. 101-231, 22 USCS 2795


San Antonio Express-News calling for end to DOJ stone-walling:
ATF Whistle-blowers:

Partisan treatment of gunwalking:


Update1:
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Monday, July 18, 2011

TLA Annual Assembly 2011

Monday, July 25 - Thursday, July 28
Austin Hyatt Regency, 208 Barton Springs Road

======================================

Staying @ Oltorff & Wickersham

======================================

Kid-friendly things to do:
  • Apartment pool(s)
  • Parks
  • Zoo

======================================



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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Tax Reporter by RIA

Available online and in print:


Full title:
  • United States tax reporter


Holdings in:
  • TTU Main Library
    • UNIV LIB--Stacks HJ4652 .P813
  • TTU Law Library
    • LAW--Electronic Resources; WESTLAW
    • LAW--2nd Floor; KF6365 .U52


History:
  • Heinz to Syma:
    The Tax Reporter spends most of its time in the IS office being updated.  Is this a resource that is truly needed?  Is it available electronically?  No one seems to miss it for the extended periods of time it spends off the shelf and back in the IS Office area.
  • Syma to Heinz:
    This is a resource that *was* slated for electronic replacement back a few years ago when Sheila tasked Tom (on a committee that included me and one or two others) with review of continuing resources in Reference.

    We never got the money for it, IIRC, so the project kind of fell through.
    I seem to remember that there was some use (as indicated by reshelving stats) of the physical items, but can't recall the extent off the top of my head.
    Finance and Accounting are the two [main] Areas of the Rawls College which use it, and it specifically supports the MSA in Accountancy program, if memory serves.
    Would you like me to ask Tom if he still has a copy of the report he submitted to Sheila a couple years ago?
  • Syma to Heinz:
    Seeing you yesterday afternoon reminded me to let you know that I’d talked to Robert Ricketts (Area Coordinator, Accounting) and that he agreed with canceling the subscription.
    Interestingly, he said the same thing Bill Pasewark had told me… that if it was available electronically, it *would* get used.
    So, maybe something [for me] to look at and/or think about in the future, but we won’t incur any issues by canceling the print subs at this point.
    I did let him know that the Law School Library subscribed to it, both in-print, and electronically.

    P.S. On a related note, this was one of the titles from the Reference Loose-leaf Project a few years back which was identified as “high priority for move to electronic” (or whatever the actual wording was).
    P.P.S. Dr. Pasewark also made a plug for switching *any* accounting title from print to electronic.  In a tone similar to “If you build it, they will come,” he made the point that if it’s electronic, it *will* get used.  He was not altogether surprised that a print title had fallen into disuse.  Obviously there are other factors to consider (i.e. price differential), but I thought I would pass it along as “user feedback.”
  • Heinz to Syma:
    Great!   Have you sent a cancellation request to Acquisitions?

    I think we should investigate the electronic if possible to get at some future point.
  • Syma to Heinz:
    I will send a cancellation request to Acquisitions.  Wasn’t sure what the procedure on that was, because I’ve never done it before.
  • Syma to ACQ:
    After consulting with Laura Heinz and the Area Coordinator (~ “Dept Chair”) for Accounting, I would like to request that we cease our subscription to this title* as soon as possible.

    * t = United States Tax Reporter
    aka “Tax Reporter”
    a = Research Institute of America
    001         001015425
    035         |a (OCoLC)26246201
    Sorry, my ALEPH password has expired so I can’t get you an order record number at the moment, but if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
  • Villarreal:
    Hi Jake,

    FYI,  wanted you to know that our subscription to United States Tax Reporter (RIA) is a package which includes the following titles:

    Federal taxes weekly alert
    RIA Federal tax handbook
    American Federal tax reports
    Estate & gift taxes & excise taxes

    If we cancel the subscription it will also cancel the included titles.  We already paid for subs term 01/2011 to 01/2012 and we are not able to cancel in the middle of term.  We could call and ask them to not send us an invoice for the following subscription term.



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Thursday, June 9, 2011

The Most Interesting Man In The World

"He's a lover, not a fighter... but he's also a fighter, so don't get any ideas."

‎"He lives vicariously... through himself."

‎"His mom has a tattoo that says 'Son'."

‎"He's been the life of parties he's never attended."
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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Concealed Carry in Texas

52,619


Harrold ISD
[and one other]


THE TEXAS CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE 1. BILL OF RIGHTS
Sec. 23. RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS. Every citizen shall have the right to keep and bear arms in the lawful defense of himself or the State; but the Legislature shall have power, by law, to regulate the wearing of arms, with a view to prevent crime.


There are three [main] sections of Texas law that deal with licensed concealed carry in Texas:
  1. Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code (CHL)
  2. Chapter 46, Penal Code (Weapons)
  3. Chapter 30, Penal Code (Burglary & Criminal Trespass)

The full text of the Government Code can be found here:
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/?link=GV

The full text of SUBCHAPTER H (LICENSE TO CARRY A CONCEALED HANDGUN) can be found here:
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/GV/htm/GV.411.htm#H

The full text of the Weapons law can be found here:
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/docs/PE/htm/PE.46.htm

The full text of the Burglary & Criminal Trespass law can be found here:
dsdfsdfasdf

Selected sections of the CHL law:
Sec. 411.172. ELIGIBILITY
Sec. 411.188. HANDGUN PROFICIENCY REQUIREMENT
Sec. 411.192. CONFIDENTIALITY OF RECORDS
Sec. 411.203. RIGHTS OF EMPLOYERS
Sec. 411.204. NOTICE REQUIRED ON CERTAIN PREMISES
Sec. 411.205. REQUIREMENT TO DISPLAY LICENSE
Sec. 411.208. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY






Selected sections of the Weapons law:



Selected sections of the Burglary & Criminal Trespass law:

(actually, this is the only section of this law [directly] applicable to Concealed Handgun License holders)

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.30.htm#30.06

Sec. 30.06. TRESPASS BY HOLDER OF LICENSE TO CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUN







§
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