Alexander Hamilton was right.

Hamilton was concerned that the Bill of Rights wasn’t to limit governments power, but to limit those of the citizens. After reading about Los Angeles County v. Retelle, the 4th Amendment might as well not exist. Oops, we made a mistake and raided the wrong house, you’ll have to live with it. Sorry if we killed anyone, but again, what we did was legal. Not our fault. One key difference is the police were let into the house, they didn’t break down the door and bust into the house full of fire and anger with guns and a battering ram.

If the homeowners had guns and responded equally to the police, this would be a completely different situation. The government hates when things are equal. They always want the upper hand to keep the sheep in line.

Dictator of the United States

As if the National Defense Act of 2006 didn’t already grant powers to the President he didn’t already have, now we have NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/NSPD 51.    One man’s opinion on this is that the President can declare Martial Law for any national emergency.   The President can already do this as part of the National Defense Act.  On top of which, with all of our National Guardsmen out in foreign countries, who’s going to enforce this martial law?  The police?  There are entire sections of this country that will revolt if this occurs.  They are well armed, well trained, and just need the right incentive to start a civil war.

Impeachment?

Why have we not impeached the President yet?  Why have we not thrown Gonzales and crew into prison?  Why are we not taking our ‘leaders’ to task for their lies, abuses of power, and institutionalized corruption?  Why is the American populace asleep and zombie walking through this period of history?  We have seen tremendous change in the running of America.  Where’s the outrage?

Tending the Flock

A long time ago, I realized the American populace is controlled by their television. I stopped watching television shows at this point. It was a good decade before I started watching Nova and other PBS shows again. And then the Tivo arrived. Now I watch such a small segment of what’s available that I’m astounded by the sheer stupidity of what passes for news these days. I don’t read newspapers much either, for they are biased and parroting whatever they’re told to parrot. A free press is long gone; save the web.

Why are ammo prices rising?

I don’t know. I don’t believe it’s due to the metals market. I focus on Wolf Ammunition 7.62×39mm; mainly because it’s the ammo I use for my AK-47. The Full Metal Jacket ammo is made with a casing of brass and copper. If the cost of copper on the open market is a significant part of the price of ammo, then as the price fluctuates, one should see some variant in price of the resulting ammo. I don’t see this. I see an increasing cost over time. I’ve put together some loose research.

Economics & Gun Control

I re-read Freakonomics the other day, just to refresh my memory on a few questions I had written in the page margins.  There’s a chapter on crime reduction in the 1990s.  One of the obvious topics brought up is gun control.  There’s a salient sentence to remember, which in summary says “If there exists an easy to access black market in guns, gun control is only punishing the law abiding citizen.”

Why would a criminal bother buying a gun legally?  It’s expensive and invasive.  I can literally drive one town over and pick up a number of weapons off the street very cheaply.  It would be an anonymous transaction and cheaper for me in the short term.  Why didn’t I?  The long term probability of getting caught and running afoul of the stupid gun laws in my state aren’t worth the short term gain.  If I was going to rob a store or kill someone, for the one time event, the illegal gun is a far better choice.  The probability of being caught is lower, the probability of having the weapon traced back to me is very small, and I can dispose of the weapon just as easily as I acquired it.