International Museums: Fort Bridger
Fort Bridger certainly doesn't look like those old westerns - far from it - instead it looks "real"
The small Fort Bridger in Wyoming, outside the town of the same name, is well off the beaten path but it is a unique and hidden gem. While lacking displays of scale of larger institutions, this museum retains the feel of frontier life in the 19th century. Its small collection is quite impressive, and for anyone passing nearby this is certainly worth the stop! (Click images for a closer view) Read more
Eric Holder – The Audacity of Contempt
This week numerous outlets reported that lawmakers including Rep Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) could hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt! This is the most outrageous turn of events – and not that the lawmakers might try this, but rather that the Eric Holder as the highest Justice Department official could actually be held in contempt!
Does this guy think he is above the laws he’s suppose to protect?
The Los Angeles Times actually has offered even coverage on this:
Reporting from Washington—House Republicans threatened Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. with a criminal contempt of Congress citation Thursday, alleging the Justice Department has refused for a year to turn over key documents in lawmakers’ investigation of the failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation.
What remains shocking is not the circus that this has become, but rather that the mainstream media – with a few exceptions such as the LA Times – has sat on this story. Who needs a cover-up when the media doesn’t even try to uncover the facts?
Does NBC New York Reporter Believe in Checking Facts?
There is a role in the media called a “fact checker” but strangely it seems many firearms related stories in the mainstream media just accept anything said by anti-gun types as a “fact.” Case in point, this week NBC New York offered a story on how this weekend a commercial will run featuring Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City and Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston – who happen to be the founders of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
Here is what we are talking about:
Bloomberg asserted the (recent) shooting (in New York City) made clear the importance of gun control. He added: “We had too close a brush with death tonight due to illegal guns.”
And the figures prove he’s right. Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne told me that about 85 percent of the gun crimes committed in New York City result from gun purchases made in Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, “states with comparatively lax gun laws.”
First question, where does Paul Browne get his information? And more to the point, how do the figures prove Bloomberg is right? This number is widely cited, but without a source. Second, what numbers of those are legal vs. illegal gun purchases? In other words, are these even legal purchases that take advantage of “lax gun laws” in the first place? This point is never made clear and is often very vague. Not exactly the facts now are they?
But the facts get even more twisted:
John Feinblatt, the Mayor’s chief policy adviser, told me that states with tough gun laws are unlikely to be the source of illegal guns. He noted that, in fighting gun crimes, two measures are vital: having universal background checks for gun sales and putting all such data in the FBI files. In the case of the Virginia Tech massacre, in which 33 people were killed, the gunman, Seung-hui Cho, had a mental history that indicated he was dangerous but , Feinblatt said, that was never passed on to the FBI. Some state laws on gun sales, he added “have loopholes like swiss [sic] cheese.”
Again, this is twisting the message and points. Seung-hui Cho’s ability to get a gun wasn’t because of lax gun laws, but rather a failing in the mental health system. But what “loopholes” are like “Swiss cheese” exactly? Would this be private sales? Even in New York private sales are legal, provided both parties have licenses to own the firearms.
But another point we’d like to make on facts. States with tough gun laws may not be the source of illegal guns, but it is hard to know for sure. Illegal guns aren’t exactly tracked the way commercial sales are tracked, so this is somewhat a vague point. It is clear that guns do change hands in New York and Illinois – as there is gun violence. Clearly an illegal black market operates and no amount of gun bans or gun control is going to destroy this black market. But that’s a fact that really pushes the issue – is it Mayors Against Illegal Guns or just Mayors Against Guns, because the way these guys talk it sounds like the latter.
AP and WaPo See End of “One-Gun-A-Month” as Opening Haven for Gun Runners
Review the Second Amendment of the Constitution and it says nothing along the lines of “The Right to Keep and Bear Arms and Buy Just One Gun A Month,” and yet that law has been on the books in Virginia for a while. Now that it is on the verge of being repealed, The Associated Press via The Washington Post noted this week:
A law Virginia passed a generation ago to end the states’ reputation as a haven for gun runners is on the verge of being repealed.
The story later offered this passage:
The bills to abolish the one-handgun-per-month law would end one of the legacy laws of former Gov. Doug Wilder. The Democratic governor pushed for it after Virginia became a prime supplier of guns used in crimes in major East Coast cities.
What isn’t noted is whether this was ever actually proven to be true, or did the story note that gun crime had not fallen as a result of the one-gun-per-month restriction, which only seemed to effect law-abiding citizens in Virginia –but of course those are facts that get in the way of anti-gun bias in reporting.
Brian Terry’s Family Alleges Fast and Furious Lies
This week our hearts really go out to the family of Brian Terry, the border control agent who was shot with a gun from the ATF’s Fast and Furious debacle, as The Los Angeles Times noted “Slain border agent’s family alleges lies over ATF gun program.” The paper reported:
The Terry family alleged that then-U.S. Atty. Dennis K. Burke told them last March that the two weapons came from a store in Texas and were not part of Fast and Furious.
This is just the latest twist we’re hearing, and suggests more of a cover up. Why would the ATF need to lie… unless every part of this debacle was already being covered up?
The article closes:
In fact, the notice says, “(then-U.S. Atty. Dennis K.) Burke actually knew within hours of Brian’s murder that they were purchased from a Phoenix gun shop under ATF surveillance the previous January” — a fact borne out by Burke’s emails.
We just ask again, why isn’t this story leading the nightly news? Where is the mainstream media outrage?
Holder in the Hot Seat – Blames Lack of Gun Control
So let’s get this straight, ATF ran an operation that saw a border control agent killed, and thousands of guns were let to walk to Mexico. And how does the Attorney General see it? It is a fault of lack of gun control in the United States, reports The Washington Examiner:
“ATF’s ability to stem the flow of guns from the United States into Mexico suffers from a lack of effective enforcement tools,” Holder told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today. “Unfortunately, in 2011, a majority of House Members – including all members of the majority on this Committee – voted to keep law enforcement in the dark when individuals purchase multiple semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, and long guns – like AK-47s – in gun shops in four southwest-border states.”
No one this guy won’t step down, he seems to actually believe the things that come out of his mouth!
GOP Says DOJ Knew About Fast and Furious
And so it begins a game of who said what, who knew what and lots of finger pointing. This week FoxNews reported, “GOP Report: Justice officials were on top of Fast and Furious,” noting:
Top Department of Justice officials had extensive knowledge of and involvement in Operation Fast and Furious, claims a new report released Thursday, hours before Attorney General Eric Holder’s scheduled testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
This of course comes following last week’s Democratic report that says DOJ was in the dark, and tried to “blame Bush” for the gunrunning debacle.
This is a story that we will of course continue to follow.
FoxNews: Holder says no one punished ‘yet’ during testimony on controversial ‘Fast and Furious’ operation
Today Eric Holder is in the hot seat, and so far what we’ve heard is that “no one has been punished ‘yet’” reports FoxNews:
No one has been punished “yet,” Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday in a contentious hearing on the role of the Justice Department in “Operation Fast and Furious,” about which Holder insisted once more he only heard about in the winter of 2011.
But let’s ask the question why not? Holder claimed he didn’t know, but he’s known for more than a year now. So why hasn’t someone been punished?
We will be following this developing story very closely.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns Goes to the Super Bowl
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino will reportedly appear in a pro-gun control ad during the Super Bowl. Of course this publicity stunt is occurring as New York and New England’s teams appearing in the big game.
It should be noted that the 30 second ad will cost some $3 million dollars – so anyone who says that the NRA pushes its pro-gun message unfairly should consider the money that these super rich anti-gun zealots are throwing at their cause.
But let’s consider some too some of the media coverage so far.
The New York Times: “During Super Bowl, for 30 Seconds, 2 Mayors Will Be on Same Side,” which offers this passage:
The half-minute ad features Mr. Bloomberg and Boston’s mayor, Thomas M. Menino, ribbing each other as they cheer for their respective teams and cities. But then they turn to the purpose of their spot, declaring that one thing they agree on is the need for stricter federal gun control laws.
The New York Post: “Mayor Bloomberg to run anti-illegal gun ad during Super Bowl”
The Associated Press via The Wall Street Journal : “NYC, Boston mayors team up in gun-control ad”
All this is interesting in the way it suggests it is about “illegal guns” and how the mayors are “teaming up” and are “on the same side,” but never notes that this is against what many gun owners want. Of course do these rich anti-gun zealots care.
It should be noted that the ad will only appear in select markets and not nationally due to rules on “cause related” ads.
BBC News Notes: Colombia experiments with Bogota gun ban
Gun control say anti-gun types will make a safer world. So maybe we have a test subject in Bogota, Colombia, which is banning firearms reports the BBC this week. But what’s this… some are already saying that it won’t reduce crime? The BBC noted:
And critics of Mr (Mayor Gustavo) Petro’s ban have pointed out that most homicides involving firearms are committed with non-registered weapons, most likely smuggled into the country by left-wing guerrillas and the criminal bands that control drug trafficking.
So let’s see if we understand. The city is going to ban guns, keeping guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens, but critics note that guns are smuggled into the country and are used by criminals.
This should be required reading by groups such as Mayors Against Illegal Guns and The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
