http://www.mountainstateslegal.org/legal_cases.cfm?legalcaseid=224

Go get ‘em, buddy! :)

MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin prosecutor said he won’t enforce a host of state weapons laws after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week Americans have a right to own a gun for self-defense.

Jackson County District Attorney Gerald R. Fox said in a statement he will no longer prosecute Wisconsin’s prohibitions on carrying concealed weapons, transporting uncased or loaded guns in vehicles, carrying guns in public buildings and taverns and carrying switchblades and butterfly knives. He said the Supreme Court’s ruling renders those statutes unconstitutional.

…

Fox, a Democrat with self-described Libertarian leanings, faces re-election in 2012. He said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press but if the Brady Campaign wants to mount a recall drive, the organization should “bring it on.”

“If a majority of people want me to move on, that’s the price for standing up and saying ‘this is what I believe,’” Fox said.

There are some really lulzy quotes in there from a mentally defective police chief, so go read the whole thing. I’d really like to know if the predicted hogleg rush came to pass, hurr… I’m going to guess not.

Fox’s whole press release can be read here.

“These so-called “public safety” laws only put decent law-abiding citizens at a dangerous disadvantage when it comes to their personal safety, and I for one am glad that this decades-long era of defective thinking on gun issues is over.”

OH MY GOSH JUST GO READ IT.

Maybe I’m a nerd, but this makes me positively giddy. I really want to email Mr. Fox and thank him for his badassery. Right now all I have is, “Dear Mr. Fox, you’re fantastic. Love, Me” so I should probably wait until I stop swooning.

We win!!!

I also saw someone quicker-witted than I changed the Brady Campaign’s Wikipedia page to label them, by definition, a hate group – due to their stated opposition to an established constitutional right. Love. It.

We have never said we would support any version of this bill. To the contrary, we clearly stated NRA’s strong opposition to the DISCLOSE Act (as introduced) in a letter sent to Members of Congress on May 26 (click here to read the letter).

Later in the same statement:

We didn’t “sell out” to Nancy Pelosi or anyone else. We told Congress we opposed the bill. As a result, congressional leaders made a commitment to exempt us from its draconian restrictions on free speech. If that commitment is honored, we will not be involved in the final House debate. If that commitment is not fully honored, we will strongly oppose the bill.

If the NRA gets its piece of the pie, they’ll stay quiet. Only if they don’t will they actively oppose the bill.

That’s pretty much the definition of selling out, you two-faced, double-speaking morons.

EDIT: By the way, I’m really, REALLY sick of everyone making excuses for the NRA’s bad behavior. It absolutely galls me how many gunnies are willing to turn a blind eye every time they sell us up the river “compromise” on something because they’re the biggest gun rights organization out there. I don’t really give a good god damn how big they are when they fail at actually protecting our interests.

I don’t give anyone carte blanche to speak on my behalf, especially an organization hell-bent on securing a monopoly – to what effect? When every last check on the NRA is stripped of its political power, by a combination of gun owner fear and legislative action, and we have only the NRA to represent us… Do you really trust them that much? If we treat the NRA with such undeserved reverence when we have other options, they know they’ve got us on complete lockdown if they can kill the competition. And then what?

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The last I heard, Tommy Millner wasn’t pleased with what H-S had done, but was waiting on further explanation from them before making his next move. It’s a year and a half later, so that ought to be long enough to have it all sorted, right?

As we’re in the market for a bolt gun, The Inconvenience just called Remington to ask if they’re still doing business with H-S. The rather rude representative he spoke to said there is a demand for H-S products, so yes, they are. And, when TI said he wanted it to be known that we won’t purchase any more Remington products because of this, the rep cut him off and said “I’m not going to get into a political discussion with you.” He pointed out he wasn’t trying to have a discussion, just notify them they were losing business.

I’m pretty depressed about this. And, frankly, I feel misled. Mr. Millner had strong words about H-S Precision, but appears to have been content to let it all blow over without taking any action. I guess that might be a sound business strategy, but some of us don’t forget so easily.

EDIT: Hmm, interesting. I didn’t realize Tommy Millner left Remington for Cabela’s. The new Freedom Group CEO, as of last year, is Theodore (Ted) Torbeck. Due to the change of command, perhaps a renewed push for dropping H-S is in order?

Well, isn’t that just for the win. :)

A week or so before the Boomershoot 2010 events began, Barron and his wife Janelle touched bases with me. They were headed down to VJ’s to take advantage of the 10% open carry discount, so I said I’d meet them there. Upon arrival, Barron called Joe Huffman to tell him I wasn’t just a figment of teh interwebs after all, and to come on down for dinner. Thus, Joe and Barb showed up not long thereafter.

The story behind the figment of teh intarwebs thing is that both Barron and Barb had run into my sister at various points, yet I’d somehow managed to avoid encountering any of them. Ever. So, three of my fellow local bloggers (plus spouses) were met in short order, barbecue was had, and I started to get pretty amped up for ’splodey goodness.

I also ran into Lyle from UltiMAK and JeanC at VJ’s, in the same timeframe, thus quickly upping my local-gun/libertarian-bloggers-met-tally to five. :) (Well, six if you include my fairly recent rendezvous with Paul, though he’s not on the Palouse anymore.)

Then, I found out Oleg Volk needed a place to crash, and offered him our couch. (When I told a buddy Oleg was staying at our place, he replied – and I do quote – “No fricking way.”)

Oleg arrived the Wednesday before Boomershoot. Thursday was the Media Day, but I didn’t wind up attending due to The Inconvenience’s school schedule and the weather. Thus, Thursday, Friday and Saturday were mostly spent hanging out and taking pictures. I’d assumed (rightly) I’d be in front of the camera some…

but didn’t expect to a) get to do some shots for UltiMAK:

and b) see The Inconvenience do the same!

Lyle (who is rather photogenic, himself) was quite pleased with the results, and will be using some of each of us in promo materials. Flattered, I am indeed.

I’m also stoked to be married to some serious eye candy. ;-)

Sunday dawned bright and early(ish). We gathered up a couple carloads of friends and headed down to the Boomershoot site. We managed to arrive just late enough to miss the opening fireball, but thanks to Barron’s videography we got to watch it later. (Video in just a minute. You have to listen to me rambling on, first.)

I don’t think I’m nearly poetic enough to explain the awesome awesomeness that was Boomershoot. Imagine, if you will, walking up to a line of absolutely beautiful rifles, optics, spotting scopes, and other trappings, wielded by some of the nicest, most well-behaved folks on earth. That thing about an armed, polite society? Absolutely true. Cliche, I know, but I felt like a kid in a candy store.

And stingy, they are not. These folks are proud of their gear, and happy to let you give it a spin. David Whitewolf from Random Nuclear Strikes let us give his .308 pistol (Sweetheart) a go, and despite the fact I nearly launched it one shooting position to the left, it was great fun! (I was fully prepared for major rearward recoil, which it did not have. Leftward travel, yes. Lots of that.) Then, I was bestowed with a Heller Kitty t-shirt! YES! SCOTUS HUMOR! GLEE!

On down the line I went, to the veeeery furthest shooting position. And who did I find there? Ry Jones, of course, and his .50.

Yes. I finally got to shoot a .50. I’m still grinning like an idiot. Barron got some great pictures (and video, did I mention the video?) of it, for which I thank him muchly. And a million thanks to Ry for the courtesy, and letting me keep my souvenir brass.

So, much more hanging out, observing, drooling over gear, etc. continued. The Girl Child fell asleep while I was shooting the .50. We broke for lunch, and afterward watched gratuitous anvil violence. More shooting after lunch, at which point Lyle asked if I’d like to come down to his spot on the line and try for a boomer or two with his .308 Remington 700. I believe my answer was something along the lines of, “HELL YES.”

Aside from some very rudimentary spotting scope usage for sighting in rifles, I’ve never worked with a spotter. Lyle got me set up and spotted for me, and let me tell you – those of you who haven’t gotten the chance to shoot like that, go do it. Now. It’s the perfect combination of adrenaline rush and peaceful zen – I can’t even describe it. Shooting has always more or less been a solitary thing for me. Even if I’m out shooting with other people, my performance is just that – mine. And, as someone who has never been particularly athletic or played well with others, I’ve never had much of a chance to do the whole teamwork thing. I loved it. I still haven’t quite put my finger on why I enjoyed it so much, but being part of a shooter/spotter team is now officially under my skin.

Anyway, hopefully I’ll write something a little more eloquent on that, later. For now, I’ll say that five shots in – BOOM. The Inconvenience then took it for a spin and got two hits of his own. Thanks again, Lyle.

After that, I went back down the line and took a spin on Barron’s .308 Kimber. Talk about a drool-worthy rifle, gah. I believe I got a Boomer in four on that one. Both of my hits were at about 375 yards. Not too shabby, I’d say!

Man, I keep forgetting stuff to add. We attended the Saturday night Boomershoot dinner and raffle, which was a lot of fun. My buddy, who was celebrating his birthday, hit a Boomer with Ry’s .50. Then, his wife was filmed shooting the .50 and did and interview with Michael Bane. I met some other folks with a young one in tow – turns out his name was Garand, and he was one day older than The Girl Child. We may be in trouble if they cross paths in 16 years or so… A few folks recognized me from PGB, which is always flattering (and a surprise!). Dan from UltiMAK made a ~550 yard headshot on a silhouette with a Mosin. I think he took nine shots total, with Russian steel-cased ammo, and oh yeah – freaking IRON SIGHTS.

And, you know, days like Sunday really make me want to tell the anti-gunners to just STFU and get bent. I didn’t hear a cross word, see a single safety violation, or otherwise find any reason to be concerned by the crowd. The folks were well-spoken, kind, and generous. Joe Huffman and crew put a ton of time and hard work into creating an event that can be enjoyed by all ages, and I really thank him for his efforts. It is not only a fantastic representation of the gun community I am proud to be a part of, it’s a doggone good time.

To Joe and family, Lyle and the UltiMAK crew, Ry, Barron, Janelle, David, Oleg and anyone else I’m forgetting who helped make this last week and a half or so such an amazing experience, thank you for all you do, and for welcoming me and mine into the fold.

And now, courtesy of Barron, the video – more pics to come soon, as well.

OH GOD SO FUN.

I have a feeling this next year is going to be a spendy one for us. Yeeeeah.

More details and pics later, when I’m on a real keyboard.

I am planning to attend as a spectator this year. I’m not sure if The Inconvenience and Girl Child will also be along, but we’ll see.

The mystery visitor, who will be in town for the same event, is none other than the talented Mr. Oleg Volk. YAY!

A couple of notes for those converging (or considering it) on my neck of the woods for Boomershoot:

I’d be happy to help y’all with information about lodging or Moscow in general, which is about 45 minutes away from the shoot. Just comment or send me an email: laurel@politicsgunsandbeer.com

Please do get in touch if you’ll be around, so I know who to look for!

Also, shameless plug: The Sister and Grumple Dan are the owners of VJ’s BBQ in Moscow. Joe’s wife, Barb, ran into The Sister at the grocery store the other day, and they partook of some of their excellent BBQ shortly thereafter. (I’m particularly fond of the pulled pork, and potato salad.)

Anyway, with so many gunnies coming to town, I figured now was a good time for a shoutout and to point out that not only are they an open-carry-friendly establishment, they actually offer a 10% discount to open carrying customers. So, stop in, introduce yourself, show off your hardware and try the best BBQ on the Palouse!

*grin*

P.S. One clue: I AM back in Idaho.