Ammunition Accountability Act?

This is the first I've heard of this. And I can't believe this!

That's why the fact that the Assembly has bought into a national crusade known as the Ammunition Accountability Act is suddenly a legitimate threat. New York, Pennsylvania and 16 other states have already enacted legislation that would mandate the engraving of a unique serial number on the base of each handgun and “assault weapon” bullet, and an identical number on the cartridge's case. The act calls for dealers of this “encoded ammunition” to record the purchaser's name, birthdate, drivers license number, etc.

All non-encoded ammunition must be disposed of prior to Jan. 1, 2011. The database and other expenses involved would be paid for by a special tax of a half-cent per round of ammunition sold.

http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20081204/SPORTS/812040369

Folks, we gotta get together and do something about this. I can't even begin to think of how this would affect us. I'm a shooter and a reloader. This is totally bullshit!

Losing our Guns

On one of the forums I browse, I recently saw this following passage in the member's signature:

At Thermopylae 1,000,000 Persians lost 20,000 yet failed to disarm just 300 Spartans. 80,000,000 lawful Americans would resist even harder. That we promise.

I would like to think so, but unfortunately I don't think there will be anyone we would be able to fight against. The process to take our guns away has been and will continue to be an ongoing process.

I think the only way we will be able to keep our rights to own guns is through helping those who aren't hard set against guns to understand our Constitutionally established rights (arguably), electing politicians whom will protect our rights, and through fighting every piece of anti-gun legislation that comes up for vote.

These kinds of "quotes" do no service to preserving our rights. The issue is not to fight if we have to, but whom will we be fighting?

Pearl Harbor Day

USS Shaw under attack

My wife and I were headed to the Post Office today to mail a shipment of Christmas presents off and on the way in I noticed the flag was flying half-mast. I wondered why, and thought it might have something to do with some of the recent rampage-shootings.

While weighing in our packages, the woman working there gave me the date for a form I was doing and said "December 7th, Pearl Harbor Day". I felt bad because I had forgotten - not that it was today, but the date in general. I'm sort of in vacation-mode now and lose track of days sometimes.

I'd like to say thank you to all of the service men and women who died and served that day. I've been to Hawaii a few times, but never to the memorial in Pearl Harbor. I think I should do that my next trip out.

I am of the "younger generation", but I don't want to forget and I want my kids to always remember the incredible sacrifices my grandparent's generation gave for our country. So, thank you to all.

To Hunt or Not-to-Hunt

I've always wanted to go hunting. I can't describe it, but maybe it's being outdoors, maybe it's exercising my rights, maybe it's the challenge and thrill, maybe it's the self-sufficiency... I don't know.

When I think about it, depending on what's being hunted, I don't have any moral qualms. I'm not so superior to think that it's inherently cruel. I did see a video of a guy talking an elephant from about 50 or so yards and it bothered me. On a different note, I don't eat octopus sushi - yeah, because I don't like the texture, but also because I really admire their intelligence and... no, you know what... now I am sounding superior. I don't like the way octopus tastes. I like elephants and lots of other creatures - alive. I don't think I want to get into the rationalization-game here. I just want to learn to hunt. Maybe I'll hunt varmints. Maybe I'll hunt game I can eat. Maybe I'll go after a trophy.

I really do want to earn my right to hunt. I dunno if that makes sense or not, but I know I wasn't raised in a hunting family and that's fine. I do want to respect other hunters and most importantly the game. So, I'll have to figure out how I can get started. That is, if my wife "let's me".

As terrorism plots evolve, FBI relies on Agent John Q. Public

By Josh Meyer, Times Staff Writer
May 12, 2007

WASHINGTON — The FBI has hailed the breakup of an alleged plot to kill soldiers at Ft. Dix, N.J., as a major success story. But federal authorities acknowledge that the case has underscored a troubling vulnerability in the domestic war on terrorism.

They say the FBI, despite unprecedented expansion over the last 5 1/2 years, cannot counter the growing threat posed by homegrown extremists without the help of two often unreliable allies. One is an American public that they lament is prone to averting its attention from suspicious behavior and often reluctant to get involved. The other is a small but growing army of informants, some of whom might be in it for the wrong reasons — such as money, political ax-grinding or legal problems of their own.

Such dependence on amateurs is "not something that we would like. It's something that we absolutely need," said Special Agent J.P. Weis, who heads the FBI's Philadelphia field office and the South Jersey Joint Terrorism Task Force, which conducted the Ft. Dix investigation.

Weis and other FBI and Justice Department officials acknowledged they probably never would have known about the six men and their alleged plans had it not been for a Circuit City employee who reported a suspicious video.

And, they said, an FBI informant was instrumental in gathering evidence to file criminal charges by infiltrating the men's circle for 16 months as they allegedly bought and trained with automatic weapons, made reconnaissance runs and discussed plans.

Weis and others said the bureau had to rely on the public and on informants in domestic counter-terrorism investigations because of the changing nature of the global jihad and the threat it posed within the United States. (continues)

So, how does the public change from being reluctant to take part in our collective security while balancing the process of observing from digressing into McCarthy-ism?

Things I gotta think about

The Virginia Tech shootings have had me thinking about a lot...

• psychological screening before handgun purchases
• what psychological tendencies do mass murderers have?
• safety vs. liberty
• the constitution
• what are violent crime rates
• handgun ownership in other countries
• historical tracking of violent crimes
• violent crime prevented by self-defense
• most effective means of self-defense
• violent crime in cities with gun bans
• state of Americans today
• class 3 vs. semi-auto rifles w/ hi-cap vs. long arms vs. handgun crimes