Saturday, August 31, 2013
Wirecutter posted this picture
and said that it immediately made him think of his dog.
Made me think of my dog too. I had brought a couple of pheasants home and set the cage on the ground while I moved them to a bigger cage. While I wasn't paying attention, Bullet let his nose do the thinking.
You can't accuse him of being lazy.
and said that it immediately made him think of his dog.
Made me think of my dog too. I had brought a couple of pheasants home and set the cage on the ground while I moved them to a bigger cage. While I wasn't paying attention, Bullet let his nose do the thinking.
You can't accuse him of being lazy.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Bracken
I believe ol' Buckshot might find this interesting. I certainly did.
Found it at Robert's Gun Shop
Found it at Robert's Gun Shop
Monday, August 26, 2013
1. THE REGAL INN MOTOR LODGE
I used to be a history teacher at a
private Christian school in Louisiana. I was in my
mid-thirties then, unmarried and unattached. It was June and I was
on a road trip, cruising up Interstate 81 through the northeastern
corner of Tennessee in my Maxima. I was going to spend the
month in Pennsylvania, hiking another 300 miles of the Appalachian
Trail. The trail ran 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine, and
over previous summers I’d hiked it in sections, from south to north.
After a school year spent dealing with self-absorbed and often
hysterical teenagers, I was looking forward to the wilderness solitude.
Friday afternoon, and I was scanning the radio dial as I passed the
towns and cities. The global banking crisis was in the news; the most serious problems were in Europe. Bank runs of some
sort. Lucky for Europe, they ran out the clock at the close of business
going into the weekend. But by then the financial contagion had spread
to New York, and the stock market closed early after some kind of Wall
Street emergency fuses had been blown.
Breathy voices warned of another round of dire world
economic consequences, by then a familiar tune. Later news
updates reported unspecified problems with the American credit
card system. Computer networks were having technical problems. Some cell
phone service was down. Spillover from Europe, no doubt. Other problems
related to the internet, possibly coinciding with a period of high
solar flare activity that affected communications satellites. Plain bad
luck and Murphy’s Law were frequently cited. There was even some talk of
a possible cyber attack, but of course it was pure speculation. China,
Russia, Iran: the usual suspects.
Whatever the cause, the main sticking point seemed to be problems in the
international currency markets. The day’s interbank trades could not be
resolved; there was too much volatility in the Eurozone as some
countries hinted at plans to pull out of the euro. Financial experts
assured their radio audiences that it would all be straightened out by
Monday. “Thank God it’s Friday” was a commonly expressed cliché laughed
into radio microphones.
And that was my working knowledge of the unfolding events.
By the time I decided to top off my tank in the northeastern corner
of Tennessee, every gas station was taking cash only, with long lines of
cars forming. I’d stopped at an ATM before my road trip and had
nearly 300 dollars stuffed in my wallet, and I wasn’t worried. I still
had a quarter of a tank, so I motored on and a few exits later, just
past a cluster of gas stations jammed with vehicles, I pulled into the
Regal Inn Motor Lodge and got a room. The Hindu desk clerk was happy to
accept cash at below the posted nightly rate.
I figured the credit card situation might be straightened
out overnight. I could gas up in the morning after the lines cleared. I
was in no hurry; I had all summer. That was my thinking going to bed
that night.
Woke up to no power, the TV dead, everything dead that didn’t run on
batteries. Anything that depended on the internet, cell service,
wireless anything, that was all dead too. My smart phone was brain dead.
It could show me some of my old pictures and texts, but it couldn’t
make a connection. Same deal in the motel lobby: no power, no wireless
connections, no credit cards.
Go read the rest at Robert's Gun Shop
Dang. I just might have to get me a kindle so I can read the whole Anthology before the screen goes black.
Where'd They Get the Nerve Gas?
Since we are ramping up to a completely illegal (I still think of the Constitution as the Law) war with Syria and its supposed to be because they used nerve gas (I'm not convinced it wasn't the rebels that did it), I am left wondering where Syria got the nerve gas in the first place.
Way back when we used the Weapons of Mass Destruction theme as the official* reason for invading Iraq, several news sources outside the main stream media reported that Iraq's chemical weapons were shipped to Syria so they wouldn't be in Iraq for us to find.
If the administration is so sure that Assad used nerve gas, isn't that pretty much an admission that Iraq did have chemical weapons? Assad had to get them somewhere. I guess we're not supposed to notice stuff like that.
* I have always believed that we invaded to show those pissant countries that if your government sponsors terrorism, we will fuck you and your government up so bad you'll beg us to stop. Didn't work out so well because the left decided to undermine the war effort as they did during the Vietnam Era.
Way back when we used the Weapons of Mass Destruction theme as the official* reason for invading Iraq, several news sources outside the main stream media reported that Iraq's chemical weapons were shipped to Syria so they wouldn't be in Iraq for us to find.
If the administration is so sure that Assad used nerve gas, isn't that pretty much an admission that Iraq did have chemical weapons? Assad had to get them somewhere. I guess we're not supposed to notice stuff like that.
* I have always believed that we invaded to show those pissant countries that if your government sponsors terrorism, we will fuck you and your government up so bad you'll beg us to stop. Didn't work out so well because the left decided to undermine the war effort as they did during the Vietnam Era.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Busy couple of weeks
The past couple of weeks have been busy. Finally have some reloading stuff to write about and I'm too danged tired to do anything but post girly pictures.
My brother was down here for a few days visiting our parents. Its always fun when he's in town because he wants to get out of their house as soon as he gets here. Dad has Pick's disease. Its a form of dementia like Alzheimer's but it only destroys the frontal lobe or something like that. So our Dad is up all night talking to the furniture, addressing crowds that aren't there and looking for a glass of water everywhere but the kitchen.
During the day he bitches about everything. I don't mean everything that happens either. I mean EVERYTHING. He will go off on a 15 minute tirade about how long he's tried to teach "you people" to set the salt shaker on the table with the label facing out so people will know what it is but he can't teach "you people" anything. Hide the salt shaker and he bitches about the next thing his eyes fall on. It goes on all day. Sometimes he's up 20 hours straight thanking the furniture for being so loyal and addressing crowds all night and then bitching about whatever catches his attention all day. So my brother and I take road trips. It doesn't usually matter where we go as long no bitching is involved. The first trip this time around was to Micanopy.
Micanopy is known for two things. Its where they filmed most of the Doc Hollywood movie and they have this restaurant where girls from the University of Florida dance nekked. They have billboards all up and down I-75 that say "We Bare All."
So we went to an old book store in Micanopy.
O. Brisky's bookstore looks like one of those musty old bookstores you see in spy movies where the mild-mannered old store owner is really the master spy. They have a lot of books and usually have more gun and shooting books than I can afford. (Not that I can afford much). This time around I had to choose between buying a book by Wayne Van Zwoll, some other book I can't remember and a 1943 book on advanced gunsmithing. I bought the 1943 book. Funny; I found pictures of the inside of O. Brisky's on Google but didn't find any of the inside of the Cafe Risque'.
Anyway, Advanced Gunsmithing for Amateur and Professional Gunsmiths by W. F. Vickery is small but it has a ton of stuff in it. Other books I have bought will just say things like "to lower the bolt handle to clear a scope, either bend it or cut it off and weld it back on lower" but they don't tell you a damned thing about how to go about doing either. This book tells you and has diagrams to show you. Most helpful for someone like me who has only the most general ideas about what he's doing.
One thing that I found gratifying was that the book talks about how to set back the barrel on a bolt action rifle and its exactly what I figured out for myself several years ago. A lot of stuff that takes expensive machine tools to do nowadays was done with simple hand tools back then. It seems that in our quest for the ultimate in precision, we've saddled ourselves with 1,500 pound lathes when a good stout tap wrench might do just as well for guns that don't need match-winning accuracy.
From Micanopy, we went over to Cross Creek to look at Marjorie Kinnan Rawling's house. Its open 9 to 5 seven days a week except that if you actually want to go inside you have to make an appointment and pay three bucks a head for a guided tour. Having no appointment, we didn't get in and decided to go see old Marjorie to let her know what we thought of being locked out after such a long trip.
There's a few local stories about Marjorie that don't generally crop up when you are doing your third grade book report on The Yearling. You don't get to read about her propensity to get in a row boat and row across Orange Lake to drink moonshine at a fish camp on the Marion County side. Cross Creek is in Alachua County and Alachua County used to be dry. Not so on the other side of the lake. You also won't hear about her foul mouth when she was addressing the students at the Ft. McCoy School. She definitely was a character.
Of course, when we found her, the old gal wasn't in any condition to help us get a look inside her house. I definitely don't want her giving me a guided tour of anywhere.
There were several Confederate Graves in the same cemetery. All of them had little US flags on them. We will return some time in the near future to adorn them with something more appropriate.
Somehow, in the midst of that trip and several smaller ones, I found time to assemble more 10 gauge shells. I have enough for at least one day of ducks. By the end of the first ducky day, I'll know whether my 10 gauge experiment is a success.
Another trip took us to a bunch of flooded springs along the Suwanee River and up to MacClenny. Although it was probably more sane than my Parent's house, we didn't go there for the State Mental Hospital. We went to the Dixie Outfitters Store and Barber Shop downtown.
My brother gets T-shirts with pictures of the Hunley or Stonewall Jackson on them. He wears them everywhere and really gets a kick out of "tolerant" liberals getting all flustered over them. I've always wanted a few too. I got one with the C.S.S. Florida, a Stonewall Jackson and a Confederate Special Delivery via 3" Ordnance Rifle. Now I am as politically incorrect as anybody.
And no, I ain't no Neo-Confederate. There's nothing "Neo" about it.
Along the way we found time to look up a long-lost relative in LaCrosse.
The brother in law is going to use a 16 gauge Browning for his ducks this year and I even managed to roll a few 16 gauge shells for him.
I'll have to write a short post about the 10 and 16 gauge loading but this wasn't too bad for a couple of weeks of just goofing around in my spare time. With the three day weekend coming up I might just tackle putting the 20 gallon gas tank on Ruth, the old Jeep.
My brother was down here for a few days visiting our parents. Its always fun when he's in town because he wants to get out of their house as soon as he gets here. Dad has Pick's disease. Its a form of dementia like Alzheimer's but it only destroys the frontal lobe or something like that. So our Dad is up all night talking to the furniture, addressing crowds that aren't there and looking for a glass of water everywhere but the kitchen.
During the day he bitches about everything. I don't mean everything that happens either. I mean EVERYTHING. He will go off on a 15 minute tirade about how long he's tried to teach "you people" to set the salt shaker on the table with the label facing out so people will know what it is but he can't teach "you people" anything. Hide the salt shaker and he bitches about the next thing his eyes fall on. It goes on all day. Sometimes he's up 20 hours straight thanking the furniture for being so loyal and addressing crowds all night and then bitching about whatever catches his attention all day. So my brother and I take road trips. It doesn't usually matter where we go as long no bitching is involved. The first trip this time around was to Micanopy.
Micanopy is known for two things. Its where they filmed most of the Doc Hollywood movie and they have this restaurant where girls from the University of Florida dance nekked. They have billboards all up and down I-75 that say "We Bare All."
So we went to an old book store in Micanopy.
O. Brisky's bookstore looks like one of those musty old bookstores you see in spy movies where the mild-mannered old store owner is really the master spy. They have a lot of books and usually have more gun and shooting books than I can afford. (Not that I can afford much). This time around I had to choose between buying a book by Wayne Van Zwoll, some other book I can't remember and a 1943 book on advanced gunsmithing. I bought the 1943 book. Funny; I found pictures of the inside of O. Brisky's on Google but didn't find any of the inside of the Cafe Risque'.
Anyway, Advanced Gunsmithing for Amateur and Professional Gunsmiths by W. F. Vickery is small but it has a ton of stuff in it. Other books I have bought will just say things like "to lower the bolt handle to clear a scope, either bend it or cut it off and weld it back on lower" but they don't tell you a damned thing about how to go about doing either. This book tells you and has diagrams to show you. Most helpful for someone like me who has only the most general ideas about what he's doing.
One thing that I found gratifying was that the book talks about how to set back the barrel on a bolt action rifle and its exactly what I figured out for myself several years ago. A lot of stuff that takes expensive machine tools to do nowadays was done with simple hand tools back then. It seems that in our quest for the ultimate in precision, we've saddled ourselves with 1,500 pound lathes when a good stout tap wrench might do just as well for guns that don't need match-winning accuracy.
From Micanopy, we went over to Cross Creek to look at Marjorie Kinnan Rawling's house. Its open 9 to 5 seven days a week except that if you actually want to go inside you have to make an appointment and pay three bucks a head for a guided tour. Having no appointment, we didn't get in and decided to go see old Marjorie to let her know what we thought of being locked out after such a long trip.
There's a few local stories about Marjorie that don't generally crop up when you are doing your third grade book report on The Yearling. You don't get to read about her propensity to get in a row boat and row across Orange Lake to drink moonshine at a fish camp on the Marion County side. Cross Creek is in Alachua County and Alachua County used to be dry. Not so on the other side of the lake. You also won't hear about her foul mouth when she was addressing the students at the Ft. McCoy School. She definitely was a character.
Of course, when we found her, the old gal wasn't in any condition to help us get a look inside her house. I definitely don't want her giving me a guided tour of anywhere.
There were several Confederate Graves in the same cemetery. All of them had little US flags on them. We will return some time in the near future to adorn them with something more appropriate.
Somehow, in the midst of that trip and several smaller ones, I found time to assemble more 10 gauge shells. I have enough for at least one day of ducks. By the end of the first ducky day, I'll know whether my 10 gauge experiment is a success.
Another trip took us to a bunch of flooded springs along the Suwanee River and up to MacClenny. Although it was probably more sane than my Parent's house, we didn't go there for the State Mental Hospital. We went to the Dixie Outfitters Store and Barber Shop downtown.
My brother gets T-shirts with pictures of the Hunley or Stonewall Jackson on them. He wears them everywhere and really gets a kick out of "tolerant" liberals getting all flustered over them. I've always wanted a few too. I got one with the C.S.S. Florida, a Stonewall Jackson and a Confederate Special Delivery via 3" Ordnance Rifle. Now I am as politically incorrect as anybody.
And no, I ain't no Neo-Confederate. There's nothing "Neo" about it.
Along the way we found time to look up a long-lost relative in LaCrosse.
The brother in law is going to use a 16 gauge Browning for his ducks this year and I even managed to roll a few 16 gauge shells for him.
I'll have to write a short post about the 10 and 16 gauge loading but this wasn't too bad for a couple of weeks of just goofing around in my spare time. With the three day weekend coming up I might just tackle putting the 20 gallon gas tank on Ruth, the old Jeep.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Blogroll Addition and an Interesting Article
While putting together a new Blue Monday post, I was reading some new blogs. One that I stumbled upon is called Animal Magnetism. I added it to the blog roll.
Something that has bothered me for a long time is how people can see one thing happening and convince themselves that its completely opposite of what's actually going on. While reading on Animal Magnetism, I followed a link to an article that is really right on point.
Here's an excerpt:
Human beliefs are shaped by perception, but the new research suggests delusions — unfounded but tightly held beliefs — can turn the tables and actually shape perception. People who are prone to forming delusions may not correctly distinguish among different sensory inputs, and may rely on these delusions to help make sense of the world, the study finds. Typical delusions include paranoid ideas or inflated ideas about oneself.
"Beliefs form in order to minimize our surprise about the world," said neuroscientist Phil Corlett of Yale University in New Haven, Conn., who was not involved in the study. "Our expectations override what we actually see," Corlett added. [The 10 Biggest Mysteries of the Mind]
You can read it all at Live Science.
"Our expectations override what we see." That really does explain a lot.
Something that has bothered me for a long time is how people can see one thing happening and convince themselves that its completely opposite of what's actually going on. While reading on Animal Magnetism, I followed a link to an article that is really right on point.
Here's an excerpt:
Human beliefs are shaped by perception, but the new research suggests delusions — unfounded but tightly held beliefs — can turn the tables and actually shape perception. People who are prone to forming delusions may not correctly distinguish among different sensory inputs, and may rely on these delusions to help make sense of the world, the study finds. Typical delusions include paranoid ideas or inflated ideas about oneself.
"Beliefs form in order to minimize our surprise about the world," said neuroscientist Phil Corlett of Yale University in New Haven, Conn., who was not involved in the study. "Our expectations override what we actually see," Corlett added. [The 10 Biggest Mysteries of the Mind]
You can read it all at Live Science.
"Our expectations override what we see." That really does explain a lot.
The Lord Provides
The Lovely Bride's favorite shotgun is an old Ithica Model 37 Featherlite in 20 gauge. The one problem with it is that somebody used a tubing cutter to shorten the barrel and it just doesn't pattern like it should.
The Ithica was built in 1952 so the new style barrels won't fit on it without a return to the factory and she likes the shortened barrel because it handles better for her anyway. The barrel is still plenty long enough to be legal and I have given some thought to having it tapped for screw-in chokes but the only local gunsmith I'd trust with that job is notorious for long turn around times. I've been putting it off for months.
So last weekend, we were cleaning up around the house and I needed to reorganize the safe to squeeze another gun or two back into it. I got the safe from a buddy who was getting a divorce five or six years ago and it had three guns in it when I got it. He said he had no place to put them so they went with the safe. One was a Marlin 30-30, one was a Mossberg 500 in .410 bore and I have never been able to remember what the third one was. Last weekend, when I got everything out of the safe, way in the back stood an as new Remington 870 20 gauge youth model. The mystery gun.
Its just a tad heavier than the Ithica but she likes it well enough. It even has screw-in chokes. The best part about it was that after sitting in that safe, forgotten for all these years, I rediscovered it on the night before her birthday. One of us must be living right.
The Ithica was built in 1952 so the new style barrels won't fit on it without a return to the factory and she likes the shortened barrel because it handles better for her anyway. The barrel is still plenty long enough to be legal and I have given some thought to having it tapped for screw-in chokes but the only local gunsmith I'd trust with that job is notorious for long turn around times. I've been putting it off for months.
So last weekend, we were cleaning up around the house and I needed to reorganize the safe to squeeze another gun or two back into it. I got the safe from a buddy who was getting a divorce five or six years ago and it had three guns in it when I got it. He said he had no place to put them so they went with the safe. One was a Marlin 30-30, one was a Mossberg 500 in .410 bore and I have never been able to remember what the third one was. Last weekend, when I got everything out of the safe, way in the back stood an as new Remington 870 20 gauge youth model. The mystery gun.
Its just a tad heavier than the Ithica but she likes it well enough. It even has screw-in chokes. The best part about it was that after sitting in that safe, forgotten for all these years, I rediscovered it on the night before her birthday. One of us must be living right.
Too Good Not to Steal
Saw this over at The Reluctant Paladin the other day.
Don't worry. There's lots of stuff over there to make your eyes feel better.
Don't worry. There's lots of stuff over there to make your eyes feel better.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Appeals Court Shoots Down Gun Sale Conviction
I found this one especially interesting because I know Ted Fries and I did not know anything about this case. Hadn't even heard that he had been arrested. Never bought a gun from him but I've met him and we have one or two mutual friends. I would not have expected him to forget to ask about whether the guy had a license or to just assume that the buyer had dual residency in both States. Talk about a close call!
I'm posting the whole article because I can't get the link to work.
An Atlanta-based federal appeals court panel has tossed an illegal firearms
sale conviction, rapping prosecutors for failing to ask a witness "a simple
question" at trial and making an "absurd" argument on appeal.
At issue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit was a
Tallahassee, Fla., trial of a man caught in an undercover sting at a gun
show. The defendant was convicted of selling a firearm to an out-of-state
resident without having a federal license to deal in firearms.
The appeals court said the government needed to prove that the undercover
agent to whom the defendant made the sale also didn't have a license.
According to the Aug. 6 ruling, defendant Theodore Stewart Fries sold a
Kimber handgun to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Special Agent
William Lee Visnovske at an April 2010 gun show in Tallahassee. Visnovske
had approached Fries at an earlier show and identified himself as a
"Georgia boy" named "Peebo," adding that he came to Gainesville, Fla.,
about once a month to visit his brother, who was a student at the
University of Florida. Judge Charles Wilson of the Eleventh Circuit wrote
that at the time of the sale, Fries did not ask Visnovske to produce
identification or prove Visnovske's licensure status.
At the July 2011 trial in the case, Fries testified that, at the time of
the gun show, he thought the sale was legal, saying he thought Visnovske
qualified for dual residency, given his given his regular trips to Florida.
But a jury convicted Fries of violating that law. U.S. District Judge
Robert Hinkle sentenced Fries to two years' probation.
At trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Coody represented the government,
and Federal Public Defender Randolph Murrell represented Fries.
When Fries wanted to pursue an appeal, Assistant Federal Public Defender
Chet Kaufman filed with the Eleventh Circuit a so-called Anders brief,
named after the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision Anders v. California, 386
U.S. 728. It says an appointed defense attorney who finds a client's appeal
wholly frivolous should so advise the court.
But the Eleventh Circuit, in an order signed by Judge William Pryor Jr.,
directed Kaufman to examine whether the trial judge had effectively
relieved the government of proving an element of the crime. At issue was
the trial judge's instruction to jurors on § 922(a)(5). The trial judge
told the jurors that a sale to a licensed dealer is an "exception" to the
bar on selling to out-of-state residents. He said that "exception" was "not
involved" in Fries' case.
Fries hadn't objected to that instruction or asked the trial judge to
direct a verdict of acquittal. But, in keeping with the Eleventh Circuit's
directive, Kaufman filed a brief arguing that Fries' conviction should be
reversed because the jury instruction was erroneous and because there was
insufficient evidence presented at trial to show that Visnovkse did not
have a federal firearms license when Fries sold him the firearm in
question.
Prosecutors argued in response—half-heartedly, as Wilson described it in
his opinion for the appellate panel—that "it can be argued" that the
government doesn't have to prove that both parties to a firearms
transaction lack a federal firearms license in order to obtain a conviction
under the statute.
Joined by Eleventh Circuit Chief Judge Edward Carnes and visiting Senior
Tenth Circuit Judge David Ebel, Wilson called the government's position an
"absurd" reading of the law. Wilson added that the language of the
indictment indicates the government reads the statute the same way he does.
Prosecutors argued that the jury still could have found that the government
met its burden of proof based on evidence that Fries thought he was selling
to an unlicensed buyer. For instance, the government pointed to remarks in
a recorded conversation between Fries and Visnovske to the effect that
Visnovske was a farmer for whom firearms was a hobby, not a business. But
Wilson said the panel was unpersuaded that Fries' subjective belief bore on
the question of whether Visnovske was actually unlicensed at the time of
the sale.
Carnes added a brief concurrence, noting that arguably Fries' failure to
object to the portion of the jury instruction saying transferring to a
licensed dealer is an exception to the criminal statute not involved in the
case means he stipulated that Visnovske wasn't a licensed dealer. But he
said the government hadn't argued that point to the appeals court, at least
as to the sufficiency of the evidence issue.
"Fries did not sucker punch the government," wrote Carnes. "Instead, it
knocked itself out of a valid conviction by not asking its witness a single
question the importance of which is obvious from the indictment's
allegation that Fries had transferred the firearm 'to a person not being a
licensed importer, manufacturer, dealer, and collector of firearms.' It is
not asking too much to expect a prosecutor, before a trial ends, to look at
the indictment to ensure that all of the elements alleged in it have been
proven."
"He's done," Kaufman said.
Robert Davies, the appellate chief for the U.S. attorney's office in the
Northern District of Florida, acknowledged the government had made a
mistake. "It was just a unique situation," Davies said, "and we felt, given
the instruction, that we had an argument that the district court should
still be affirmed."
"Given the totality of everything, we certainly view [the appeals court]'s
opinion as reasonable," he added.
Davies said the ruling should not pose problems for future prosecutions, as
ATF agents usually don't have federal firearms licenses. "It's not going to
be a problem in the future," said Davies. "All you have to do is ask the
question" to prove the agents aren't licensed.
I'm posting the whole article because I can't get the link to work.
Panel Calls Argument 'Absurd,' ... Shoots Down Gun Sale Conviction
Alyson M. Palmer
Daily Report
2013-08-20 ... 00:00:08.0
An Atlanta-based federal appeals court panel has tossed an illegal firearms
sale conviction, rapping prosecutors for failing to ask a witness "a simple
question" at trial and making an "absurd" argument on appeal.
At issue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit was a
Tallahassee, Fla., trial of a man caught in an undercover sting at a gun
show. The defendant was convicted of selling a firearm to an out-of-state
resident without having a federal license to deal in firearms.
The appeals court said the government needed to prove that the undercover
agent to whom the defendant made the sale also didn't have a license.
According to the Aug. 6 ruling, defendant Theodore Stewart Fries sold a
Kimber handgun to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Special Agent
William Lee Visnovske at an April 2010 gun show in Tallahassee. Visnovske
had approached Fries at an earlier show and identified himself as a
"Georgia boy" named "Peebo," adding that he came to Gainesville, Fla.,
about once a month to visit his brother, who was a student at the
University of Florida. Judge Charles Wilson of the Eleventh Circuit wrote
that at the time of the sale, Fries did not ask Visnovske to produce
identification or prove Visnovske's licensure status.
The statute that apparently tripped up the parties and the trial judge, 18
U.S.C. § 922(a)(5), makes it unlawful, with some exceptions, "for any
person (other than a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed
dealer, or licensed collector) to transfer, sell, trade, give, transport,
or deliver any firearm to any person (other than a licensed importer,
licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector) who the
transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe does not reside in ...
the State in which the transferor resides."
U.S.C. § 922(a)(5), makes it unlawful, with some exceptions, "for any
person (other than a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed
dealer, or licensed collector) to transfer, sell, trade, give, transport,
or deliver any firearm to any person (other than a licensed importer,
licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector) who the
transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe does not reside in ...
the State in which the transferor resides."
At the July 2011 trial in the case, Fries testified that, at the time of
the gun show, he thought the sale was legal, saying he thought Visnovske
qualified for dual residency, given his given his regular trips to Florida.
But a jury convicted Fries of violating that law. U.S. District Judge
Robert Hinkle sentenced Fries to two years' probation.
At trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Coody represented the government,
and Federal Public Defender Randolph Murrell represented Fries.
When Fries wanted to pursue an appeal, Assistant Federal Public Defender
Chet Kaufman filed with the Eleventh Circuit a so-called Anders brief,
named after the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision Anders v. California, 386
U.S. 728. It says an appointed defense attorney who finds a client's appeal
wholly frivolous should so advise the court.
But the Eleventh Circuit, in an order signed by Judge William Pryor Jr.,
directed Kaufman to examine whether the trial judge had effectively
relieved the government of proving an element of the crime. At issue was
the trial judge's instruction to jurors on § 922(a)(5). The trial judge
told the jurors that a sale to a licensed dealer is an "exception" to the
bar on selling to out-of-state residents. He said that "exception" was "not
involved" in Fries' case.
Fries hadn't objected to that instruction or asked the trial judge to
direct a verdict of acquittal. But, in keeping with the Eleventh Circuit's
directive, Kaufman filed a brief arguing that Fries' conviction should be
reversed because the jury instruction was erroneous and because there was
insufficient evidence presented at trial to show that Visnovkse did not
have a federal firearms license when Fries sold him the firearm in
question.
his opinion for the appellate panel—that "it can be argued" that the
government doesn't have to prove that both parties to a firearms
transaction lack a federal firearms license in order to obtain a conviction
under the statute.
Joined by Eleventh Circuit Chief Judge Edward Carnes and visiting Senior
Tenth Circuit Judge David Ebel, Wilson called the government's position an
"absurd" reading of the law. Wilson added that the language of the
indictment indicates the government reads the statute the same way he does.
Prosecutors argued that the jury still could have found that the government
met its burden of proof based on evidence that Fries thought he was selling
to an unlicensed buyer. For instance, the government pointed to remarks in
a recorded conversation between Fries and Visnovske to the effect that
Visnovske was a farmer for whom firearms was a hobby, not a business. But
Wilson said the panel was unpersuaded that Fries' subjective belief bore on
the question of whether Visnovske was actually unlicensed at the time of
the sale.
The government also argued that any error in not submitting evidence of
Visnovske's licensure status was harmless because, had Fries objected at
trial, the government could have proven the agent was unlicensed. But
Wilson said the appeals court could consider only the factual record before
it.
Visnovske's licensure status was harmless because, had Fries objected at
trial, the government could have proven the agent was unlicensed. But
Wilson said the appeals court could consider only the factual record before
it.
"It is no answer to say that the particular element at issue here—the
licensure status of the transferee for purposes of § 922(a)(5)—is
unimportant or somehow a technicality: our charge as arbiters of the law
does not turn upon the potential for intrigue presented by the particular
plot or cast of characters of a given case," wrote Wilson.
licensure status of the transferee for purposes of § 922(a)(5)—is
unimportant or somehow a technicality: our charge as arbiters of the law
does not turn upon the potential for intrigue presented by the particular
plot or cast of characters of a given case," wrote Wilson.
Carnes added a brief concurrence, noting that arguably Fries' failure to
object to the portion of the jury instruction saying transferring to a
licensed dealer is an exception to the criminal statute not involved in the
case means he stipulated that Visnovske wasn't a licensed dealer. But he
said the government hadn't argued that point to the appeals court, at least
as to the sufficiency of the evidence issue.
Carnes added that, given the trial judge didn't go over proposed jury
instructions with the lawyers until after Visnovske testified, it could not
be said that Fries had lulled the government into failing to ask Visnovske
if he were a licensed dealer.
instructions with the lawyers until after Visnovske testified, it could not
be said that Fries had lulled the government into failing to ask Visnovske
if he were a licensed dealer.
"Fries did not sucker punch the government," wrote Carnes. "Instead, it
knocked itself out of a valid conviction by not asking its witness a single
question the importance of which is obvious from the indictment's
allegation that Fries had transferred the firearm 'to a person not being a
licensed importer, manufacturer, dealer, and collector of firearms.' It is
not asking too much to expect a prosecutor, before a trial ends, to look at
the indictment to ensure that all of the elements alleged in it have been
proven."
Explaining his decision to declare his client's appeal frivolous, Kaufman
told the Daily Report, "Everybody in the case focused on one thing, and
that's whether the buyer of the firearm might have had dual residency. So
the judge wrote the jury instructions based on that and missed the element,
and the parties did the same thing."
told the Daily Report, "Everybody in the case focused on one thing, and
that's whether the buyer of the firearm might have had dual residency. So
the judge wrote the jury instructions based on that and missed the element,
and the parties did the same thing."
Kaufman said that, as long as the government does not seek further
appellate review, his client cannot be retried.
appellate review, his client cannot be retried.
"He's done," Kaufman said.
Robert Davies, the appellate chief for the U.S. attorney's office in the
Northern District of Florida, acknowledged the government had made a
mistake. "It was just a unique situation," Davies said, "and we felt, given
the instruction, that we had an argument that the district court should
still be affirmed."
"Given the totality of everything, we certainly view [the appeals court]'s
opinion as reasonable," he added.
ATF agents usually don't have federal firearms licenses. "It's not going to
be a problem in the future," said Davies. "All you have to do is ask the
question" to prove the agents aren't licensed.
The case is United States v. Fries, No. 11-15724.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Welcome to the Sunshine State or One More Reason You Might Need More than Seven Rounds in Your Magazine Bullet Clip Thingy
A resident of a populous southwest Ocala neighborhood said he was
attacked by a pack of coyotes Tuesday night just feet away from his
front door.
Jack Miller had just
stepped into the muggy summer night to walk his poodle, Tinkerbell, and
his Maltese/Chihuahua mix, Jax, when between five and eight coyotes
surrounded him and began lunging at his tiny dogs.
Miller
said Tinkerbell jumped between him and the coyotes "like a pitbull" to
protect him, while Jax cowered behind him and darted in circles by his
ankles. He managed to
punch one of the coyotes but said he couldn't fend off the yipping
animals, which were coming at him from all sides. One grabbed Jax and
bolted off.
A few years ago, I appraised a house in the same subdivision. The homeowner was getting an equity line to pay for a fence because he had seen a coyote watching his two children while they played in his back yard.
I've seen 'em in broad daylight, at dusk and at night. They are everywhere. Too bad donkeys aren't legal under the zoning in that subdivision.
You can pave it, develop it and pump it dry but you ain't never gonna tame Florida. More people need to understand that.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Robert E. Lee's Daughter Arrested for Showing Solidarity with African Americans
From the Cleveland Gazette. June 21, 1902
Not how they teach history these days, is it?
Not how they teach history these days, is it?
Monday, August 12, 2013
Loading Progress
I managed to put together fourteen rounds of 10 gauge ammo this evening. It was a test run for a sort of system that I intend to use and it worked very well. I stopped at fourteen because I ran out of cork filler wads and didn't feel like cutting any more.
I am using a Lyman Digital Powder Dispenser Scale contraption to weigh the powder and the shot.
I let it dispense a powder charge which I then pour into one case. I put in a cork spacer wad and then the plastic wad. I set that shell aside on a different table and charge the next one.
Once all the cases are charged and wadded, I take a little sheet of mylar that is cut to match the depth of the wad's shot cup, roll it up into a tube and insert it into the shot cup. That is to keep the shot from getting out of the shotcup and contacting the barrel when the shell is fired. The mylar sheet springs open against the inside of the shot cup and its ready to get its shot charge.
Using the Lyman scale as just a scale, I weigh out one ounce of #4 ITX shot and pour it into a case. Set that aside on the other table so I don't knock it over and put mylar and shot in the next one. I don't think I ever hit exactly 437.5 grains but I managed to keep them all between 435 and 437 grains of shot and that's pretty close. Just judging by what the scale said when I'd add a single pellet to the pile of shot, it looked like each pellet weighs around 2.5 grains.
After all the goodies are in the case, its closed with two over shot card wads and nice roll crimp and its officially a shotgun shell.
I will "roll" some more sometime this week and put up a few pictures. Maybe even a video of the roll crimping process. A thunder storm is suggesting that I shut down for the night.
I am using a Lyman Digital Powder Dispenser Scale contraption to weigh the powder and the shot.
I let it dispense a powder charge which I then pour into one case. I put in a cork spacer wad and then the plastic wad. I set that shell aside on a different table and charge the next one.
Once all the cases are charged and wadded, I take a little sheet of mylar that is cut to match the depth of the wad's shot cup, roll it up into a tube and insert it into the shot cup. That is to keep the shot from getting out of the shotcup and contacting the barrel when the shell is fired. The mylar sheet springs open against the inside of the shot cup and its ready to get its shot charge.
Using the Lyman scale as just a scale, I weigh out one ounce of #4 ITX shot and pour it into a case. Set that aside on the other table so I don't knock it over and put mylar and shot in the next one. I don't think I ever hit exactly 437.5 grains but I managed to keep them all between 435 and 437 grains of shot and that's pretty close. Just judging by what the scale said when I'd add a single pellet to the pile of shot, it looked like each pellet weighs around 2.5 grains.
After all the goodies are in the case, its closed with two over shot card wads and nice roll crimp and its officially a shotgun shell.
I will "roll" some more sometime this week and put up a few pictures. Maybe even a video of the roll crimping process. A thunder storm is suggesting that I shut down for the night.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Friday, August 9, 2013
Starline Brass Launches Reloading Help Area
Starline Brass Launches Reloading Help Area
August 7, 2013(GunReports.com) -- Starline Brass has launched a media content platform on www.StarlineBrass.com to help reloaders and shooters expand their knowledge of various topics. Included are videos covering various topics of interest to all skill levels of reloaders and shooters.
“We understand the value of sharing quality content with our customers. We want to help our customers grow within the sport of shooting, and to help accomplish this, we are proud to provide information on topics like reloading, shooting accuracy, firearms maintenance and more,” said Robert Hayden, vice president of Starline Brass.
Read the whole article here
Monday, August 5, 2013
Saturday, August 3, 2013
A Simple Solution
With all the ginned up opposition to so-called Stand Your Ground Laws in the news and the race-baiters screaming louder every day calling Florida an apartheid state and who knows what they'll dream up by tomorrow, I thought I'd offer a simple solution.
The problem is really just a difference of cultures. The liberal-communist side wants to be free to rob and do violence to others without any risk of getting violence done to themselves and the peaceful, law-abiding side wants the right to defend themselves to be very strongly recognized in the law.
I propose a compromise. Not a John McCain, cross the aisle and give the British the plans for defence of Fort Ticonderoga compromise either. A realistic compromise that should make everybody happy and safe.
Open Carry.
Seriously. If it were legal to walk around with a pistol strapped to your belt, thugs would automatically know who to avoid. That would keep them safe from picking on someone their own size and it would make it easier for the law-abiding to go about their daily routine with the protection they (hopefully won't) need.
I suppose it makes too much sense.
The problem is really just a difference of cultures. The liberal-communist side wants to be free to rob and do violence to others without any risk of getting violence done to themselves and the peaceful, law-abiding side wants the right to defend themselves to be very strongly recognized in the law.
I propose a compromise. Not a John McCain, cross the aisle and give the British the plans for defence of Fort Ticonderoga compromise either. A realistic compromise that should make everybody happy and safe.
Open Carry.
Seriously. If it were legal to walk around with a pistol strapped to your belt, thugs would automatically know who to avoid. That would keep them safe from picking on someone their own size and it would make it easier for the law-abiding to go about their daily routine with the protection they (hopefully won't) need.
I suppose it makes too much sense.
Duck Dynasty
When I saw the first commercial for Duck Dynasty I thought "oh great. Now a bunch of tofu-eating, Birkenstock-wearing, metrosexual Hollywood producers are going to have a show where they have a bunch of bearded guys act the way they think all Southerners act. " Having stumbled onto the show and watched several episodes, I have to admit that I was wrong.
Of course, the guys are supposed to be making duck calls but spend most of their time sneaking out of work to hunt, catch frogs and fish. Except for the Patriarch of the family (who is retired and doesn't have to sneak), the women are the only ones who have grown up so maybe there is a touch of what I suspected but its not bad. I think that if I were rich I'd find a lot more reasons to skip work and hit the woods. Heck. I know I would.
There are a few books about the show and the family in it and I have read the one titled "Happy, Happy, Happy."
I am working on "The Duck Commander Family: How Faith, Family and Ducks Created a Dynasty."
It seems that they are real people. They weren't born into money. They earned what they have and the story is absolutely inspiring. All the men had their wild times but all of them are saved and seem to walk the walk. The show actually promotes old fashioned family and Christian values. People talk about how we need more shows like Andy Griffeth but Andy didn't close every show by saying grace over supper and there was hardly any of the outdoors or shooting after the first couple of seasons. So far, Duck Dynasty is ahead in the category of "real." I guess it was natural that I would buy a Duck Commander duck call when I finally managed to get into duck hunting.
I've been trying to get into Duck Hunting since about 2005. Had my shells and was going to go with my brother in law back then but his gall bladder had other plans. The next year I developed my first case of diverticulitis and that sidelined me off and on for years. A sinkhole and a crooked insurance company kept me occupied for close to three years. In 2009 an idiot on a cell phone (and probably Ambien) rear ended me and wrecked several discs in my spine. This past year, I gave my shells to my brother in law because of the ammo shortage but I also concocted a scheme to actually make it to a duck blind. I decided to try shooting a 10 gauge loaded light with heavy non-toxic shot. The theory being that the big, heavy gun will be as effective as it was 100 years ago and won't beat my spine up like shooting a bunch of modern loads would. The 10 gauge and test loads worked flawlessly. I've been cutting cases down to 2 7/8" and trimming little sheets of mylar all week. All that was missing was a duck call.
I found the Duck Commander internet store and ordered their wood duck call last Monday. Brother in law says they mostly see wood ducks and it was their cheapest call so it seemed like it was really going to be my year to shoot a duck. I also ordered a tea glass.
The tea glass bears some elaboration. One of the guys on the show is "Uncle Si." He's a bit eccentric and takes an old Tupperware tumbler and a gallon of iced tea with him wherever he goes. His mother gave him the glass when he joined the Army and "went to 'Nomm'" The family sells a similar cup in the correct green color and appropriately adorned with the Duck Commander logo as a novelty.
When I order something from Ballistic Products, I usually get an email the next day telling me that my stuff has been shipped. I guess I've gotten spoiled because I started looking for my duck call and my tea glass along about Thursday. I figured I'd at least have an email telling me they were shipped. I was looking forward to taking the tea glass over to the sister in law's to help them fix a fence they built last weekend. (Posts need to go more than six inches into the ground and stuff like that). Then I was going to take it to work where it won't be confused with anybody else's glass. I didn't get the email until this morning.
The email said they had shipped my glass. Didn't say anything a thing about my call. So they shipped the thing they buy from an outside vendor but didn't have a duck call that they make themselves to send me? That's funny. Makes me think that there might be more "reality" in the episodes where they sneak out of work than I realized. Its not a big thing. Duck season is still a long way off and I ain't exactly their biggest customer. Its just funny.
I wonder if I'll need any decoys.
Of course, the guys are supposed to be making duck calls but spend most of their time sneaking out of work to hunt, catch frogs and fish. Except for the Patriarch of the family (who is retired and doesn't have to sneak), the women are the only ones who have grown up so maybe there is a touch of what I suspected but its not bad. I think that if I were rich I'd find a lot more reasons to skip work and hit the woods. Heck. I know I would.
There are a few books about the show and the family in it and I have read the one titled "Happy, Happy, Happy."
I am working on "The Duck Commander Family: How Faith, Family and Ducks Created a Dynasty."
It seems that they are real people. They weren't born into money. They earned what they have and the story is absolutely inspiring. All the men had their wild times but all of them are saved and seem to walk the walk. The show actually promotes old fashioned family and Christian values. People talk about how we need more shows like Andy Griffeth but Andy didn't close every show by saying grace over supper and there was hardly any of the outdoors or shooting after the first couple of seasons. So far, Duck Dynasty is ahead in the category of "real." I guess it was natural that I would buy a Duck Commander duck call when I finally managed to get into duck hunting.
I've been trying to get into Duck Hunting since about 2005. Had my shells and was going to go with my brother in law back then but his gall bladder had other plans. The next year I developed my first case of diverticulitis and that sidelined me off and on for years. A sinkhole and a crooked insurance company kept me occupied for close to three years. In 2009 an idiot on a cell phone (and probably Ambien) rear ended me and wrecked several discs in my spine. This past year, I gave my shells to my brother in law because of the ammo shortage but I also concocted a scheme to actually make it to a duck blind. I decided to try shooting a 10 gauge loaded light with heavy non-toxic shot. The theory being that the big, heavy gun will be as effective as it was 100 years ago and won't beat my spine up like shooting a bunch of modern loads would. The 10 gauge and test loads worked flawlessly. I've been cutting cases down to 2 7/8" and trimming little sheets of mylar all week. All that was missing was a duck call.
I found the Duck Commander internet store and ordered their wood duck call last Monday. Brother in law says they mostly see wood ducks and it was their cheapest call so it seemed like it was really going to be my year to shoot a duck. I also ordered a tea glass.
The tea glass bears some elaboration. One of the guys on the show is "Uncle Si." He's a bit eccentric and takes an old Tupperware tumbler and a gallon of iced tea with him wherever he goes. His mother gave him the glass when he joined the Army and "went to 'Nomm'" The family sells a similar cup in the correct green color and appropriately adorned with the Duck Commander logo as a novelty.
When I order something from Ballistic Products, I usually get an email the next day telling me that my stuff has been shipped. I guess I've gotten spoiled because I started looking for my duck call and my tea glass along about Thursday. I figured I'd at least have an email telling me they were shipped. I was looking forward to taking the tea glass over to the sister in law's to help them fix a fence they built last weekend. (Posts need to go more than six inches into the ground and stuff like that). Then I was going to take it to work where it won't be confused with anybody else's glass. I didn't get the email until this morning.
The email said they had shipped my glass. Didn't say anything a thing about my call. So they shipped the thing they buy from an outside vendor but didn't have a duck call that they make themselves to send me? That's funny. Makes me think that there might be more "reality" in the episodes where they sneak out of work than I realized. Its not a big thing. Duck season is still a long way off and I ain't exactly their biggest customer. Its just funny.
I wonder if I'll need any decoys.
