More Recent Columns

The Zelman Partisans

• Try to keep up, Fauxcahontas, November 24, 2019
• Just A Little Machinegun Crime List, November 27, 2019

The Truth About Guns

• America and Guns: How To Spot Poor or Deceptive Polling, November 6, 2019
• Why the Remington Case Cert Denial Matters More Than You Think, November 13, 2019
• Reality: Solving ‘Gun Violence’ Is Impossible, November 16, 2019
• Yale Fellow’s Post-Santa Clarita Gun Control Argument is Riddled With Errors, November 18, 2019
• Australia’s Bump Stock Ban Seems A little Redundant, Doesn’t It?, November 18, 2019
• Chasing the Machine Guns, November 22, 2019
• Illinois State Rep. Curtis Tarver Arrested For Carrying a Gun With a Revoked Permit, November 23, 2019

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TZP Columns Update

My most recent columns at The Zelman Partisans

• Survey says..: Politicians take note: 82,220,861 likely voters oppose more gun control.
• Rorschach Research Associates: They conducted a verbal Rorschach test of “support” for whatever was in the mind of each individual.
• The Cluelessness is strong in this one: And a-fisking we go. It rapidly becomes obvious Swearer has no frickin’ idea what she’s talking about.
• Nasty, Brutish, and Short: This is the 21st century; the firearms cat is out of the bag. If you want to use gun control to stop shootings, you need to reduce the nation to a sparsely populated Stone Age society.
• A willingness to defend yourself WILL get you “red flagged”: What was the horrible “threat” Kohfield made, that got his firearms stolen and him involuntarily committed to a psych hospital by judicial order (the latter part means he may never get his firearms back, nor replace them)?
• Absolute Tyranny: What is it with Dim-ocrat presidential candidates thinking that threatening to wage war on American civilians makes a great campaign platform plank?

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Welcome to the party, pal

Gun Owners of America finally notices the semiauto problem with bump-fire bans, and the crowd — finally — goes wild.

Let me tell you about a little-known pro-RKBA group. While GOA ignored this until a couple of weeks ago (when I started getting fundraising emails mentioning bump-fire stocks), and the National Restrictions Rifle Association actively pushed for it, The Zelman Partisans has been trying to warn you.

For months.

• The Zelman Partisans Statement on Proposed Legislation to Ban “Bump-Fire Stocks” and other accessories. (October 5, 2017)
  Basically this Constitution-shredding Senator wants to redefine “machine gun” by how fast you can make something fire, rather than being designed to fire automatically as long as the trigger is depressed. Apparently Jerry Miculek is going to be outlawed.
• Training Wheels (October 25, 2017)
  That is incorrect. An automatic weapon — a machinegun — is designed to fire multiple rounds per trigger operation. Bump-fire stocks in no way affect that operation/rounds relationship. If you put a bump-fire stock on a semiautomatic rifle, you still individually operate the trigger for each round fired. Bump-fire stocks don’t make the weapon fire faster. The theoretical rate of fire of the rifle is determined by the physics of the internal parts.
• The fix is in: proposed rulemaking on bump-fire
  Instead of looking at mechanical function, and simple physics, in this document the ATF has adopted the media and gun controller definition of “if it’s fast, it must be a machinegun.” The intent is preordained regardless of comments.
• Commenting Now Open: Application of the Definition of Machinegun to “Bump Fire” Stocks and Other Similar Devices. (December 29, 2017)
  Considering bump-fire stocks, and other accessories, to be machineguns would not simply regulate a physical device. It effectively outlaws the bump-fire TECHNIQUE, and even pulling the trigger faster than some arbitrary threshold.
• That’ll be our first one-term president in a while (February 20, 2018)
  I wish I could be surprised, but even before Trump began to look like a serious candidate– well before he got the R nomination — I warned that his new-found verbal respect for RKBA was belied by a long anti-RKBA history.
• “Stroke of the pen, law of the land. Kinda cool.”* (February 26, 2018)
  “Machinegun” is defined in statutory law. Short form: a firearm that fires more than one round per trigger operation.If that can be changed by executive order, instead of congressional legislation, then everything is a machinegun waiting for the pen-stroke.What can he — would he — do with that pen?
• Screw Physical Reality (March 10, 2018)
  If words having meaning, this is impossible without making every semiautomatic firearm an NFA item. Please note that this redefines machinegun without offering any grace period or grandfathering for existing gear.
• Bump-fire Banned (March 23, 2018)
  And yes; The Zelman Partisans opposes this. Accepting this is in no way a compromise. We did not get reciprocal carry. We did get a dangerous Fix NICS. And this isn’t a merely bump-fire ban; it’s effectively a ban on semiautomatic firearms (and if you think Feinstein, Schumer et al aren’t aware of that, you weren’t paying attention): parts is parts.
• Bumping Off the Truth (March 25, 2018)
  As noted on Friday, President Trump and AG Sessions announced a coming ban of bump-fire stocks (“bump-stock-type devices,” as the rule notice so eloquently puts it); no grandfathering, get rid of it or go to prison for possession of an unregistered NFA item.
• Theoretically Speaking (March 28, 2018)
  In every case, bump-fire stocks (and trigger cranks and “Multi-burst Trigger Activators”) are bad merely because they assist the shooter in approaching the firearm’s inherent theoretical maximum rate of fire. The semiautomatic rate of fire is the problem.Take away the bump-fire stock, crank, or multi-burp shoulder thingy, and the evil — to the gun ban bunnies — rate of fire remains.
  Does anyone reading this honestly doubt that establishing the precedent of the theoretical rate of fire being the problem is exactly what they want?
• “Bump-Stock-Type Devices” (sic) Commenting Now Open (March 29, 2018)
  The NPRM falsely states: “Specifically, these devices convert an otherwise semiautomatic firearm into a machinegun by functioning as a self-acting or self-regulating mechanism that harnesses the recoil energy of the semiautomatic firearm in a manner that allows the trigger to reset and continue firing without additional physical manipulation of the trigger by the shooter. Hence, a semiautomatic firearm to which a bump-stock-type device is attached is able to produce automatic fire with a single pull of the trigger.”
• Bump Stocks Matter: Banning Semiautomatic Firearms (April 2, 2018)
  If this were a move to specifically ban bump-fire stocks or trigger cranks on product safety grounds (unstable, inaccurate, etc.) you’d see a lot less opposition to it. But if you read the language of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [NPRM] (and every submitted bill I’ve tracked down so far), that isn’t what is being addressed. It is clearly and explicitly a “problem” of “rate of fire,” in that these devices — training wheels — assist the shooter in merely approaching the semiautomatic firearm’s theoretical rate of fire. (In the case of bump-fire, by using recoil to let the trigger reset, for the next manual operation.)

That’s a partial listing. You can find more.

You know what else “increases” the rate of fire? The breechloading Ferguson Rifle. Pre-measured paper cartridges. Revolvers. Bolt/lever action rifles with magazines. Slicked bolts and polished trigger groups. New springs.

Anything that improves the action.

Might I suggest joining the one pro-RKBA group that has consistently warned of, and opposed, these bans other others ignored, under-stated, or even supported them?

Staring into the abyss

From The Zelman Partisans:

Losing the War?
I read a lot of RKBA news. Seriously: A lot. (And that matters, as you’ll see.)

One theme that started popping up last week is the idea that RKBA advocates are somehow losing the culture war.

If you read the national news (or watch television, or get your news from mainstream web sites), that’s an easy conclusion to reach. So long as you don’t look too closely.

As I said, I read a lot of news. I must, to put together the weekly TZP news summary. Besides my casual browsing, I use several pre-built news searches on a variety of terms. The terms were selected to produce headlines from various points of view.

Probably 90% of the actual results reflect only one point of view; that RKBA is losing. You see it in “news” reports and Letters to the Editor (LtE) alike. You see it in polls and surveys.

And it’s BS.

READ THE WHOLE THING

And this is how we end up with folks who give up the fight, and simply wait for the revolution in which they hope to kill their enemies.

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If that wasn’t enough

Looking at the comments on Nicki’s article at TZP regarding Ted Nugent’s oops, it seems some people still aren’t satisfied. They’re demanding a ‘public apology’ that I think Ted has already made. As a human, and as a member of the best Jewish pro-RKBA group going in America, I was offended by the graphic he posted. And I’m satisfied that he meant no offense.

YMMV may vary. So go read this for more comments and an explicit apology from Ted Nugent.

“The road to hell is paved with political correctness and the abject denial and dishonesty that goes with it. It is a self-inflicted cancer that causes some Americans to cower in the corner, afraid to say what they really think lest they be labeled, ridiculed and scorned by political correctness goon squads whose goal is to stamp out speech and ideas that differ from their own. I’m not afraid.

“To the innocent who have been offended or hurt by something I said or wrote, please accept my heartfelt and sincere apology. My words were not, and will never be, directed at you. Only the guilty need feel guilty.”

 

Go read the whole column.

If you’re still offended, you may be a SJW with a pathological need to be offended, or a victim disarming wank.

Nugent: Forgiveness

Rocker Ted Nugent screwed up recently. He posted an offensive graphic that appeared to allege a Jewish/Israel gun control conspiracy, which contained other offensive tidbits in the details. A whole lot people, including the Jewish pro-RKBA group The Zelman Partisans* called him out on it.

And TZP something that no one else bothered with: They reached out to him, spoke with him. Go read.

TL;DR: Ted wanted to make the point that Jews supporting victim disarmament is crazy; a very valid point, and a view that TZP obviously shares. Unfortunately, he grabbed the first “Jewish Gun Controller” graphic he saw and ran with it before looking at exactly what he had (even I missed some of the nastier things until they were brought to my attention). This is the “Motor City Madman,”  after all. Impulsive action vies for first place (with his music) as his brand. He meant well, but screwed up.

And to make it clear: He’s now a member of The Zelman Partisans.

Welcome, Ted.

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* Disclosure: I’m a member, write a little for them, and help with their newsletter.

The Zelman Partisans have an offer for Ted Nugent

The following is a news release for the gun media and any mainstream media that might be interested. We urge TZP readers to spread the word to their media contacts.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 9, 2016

JEWISH PRO-GUN GROUP HAS AN OFFER FOR TED NUGENT

Ted Nugent planted boot firmly in mouth on Monday when he used a graphic on Facebook to make a point about gun-grabbing politicians that clearly implied that victim disarmament (aka “gun control”) is the work of a vast Jewish conspiracy.

Catching flak for anti-Semitism, he responded by saying that Aaron Zelman — a prominent Jewish PRO-gunner until his untimely death and the inspiration for The Zelman Partisans — called Nugent a gun rights hero. Nugent also stated (spelling his): “I adjust my yamika at my barmitzva playing my kosher guitar.”

Nugent is correct that Jewish individuals play an outsized role in U.S. anti-gun leadership. (Aaron Zelman, in his inimitable style, called them “bagel brains.”) It’s also true that Jews play an important role in defending gun rights. Zelman’s lifelong work and the existence of the recently formed Zelman Partisans serve as proof.

Invoking some hoary, fictional Jewish conspiracy is ridiculous. If Nugent insists on blaming entire groups for the deeds of a few members, why pick on Jews? The victim-disarmament movement is also largely an urban phenomenon, so how about blaming everybody who lives in a city? Women are among the most prominent anti-gunners, so why not post about the “international female conspiracy”?

Oh, but that would be obviously wrong.

Jews are simply an easy and familiar target for blame.

If Nugent means it when he says he’s really pro-Jewish, then The Zelman Partisans say, “Have we got a deal for you. Hey, Ted: If you show your support for pro-gun Jews by joining The Zelman Partisans, we’ll send you not only our standard beautiful membership package; we’ll throw in a TZP ‘yamika’ for free.” Better known as either a yarmulke or a kippah, the TZP version features a Star of David crossed with both an AR-15 and a Mauser 98 of the type WWII-era Jewish partisans captured from Nazis and used against their oppressors.

The Zelman Partisans appreciates Mr. Nugent’s intent in noting the misplaced idealism of those Jews who support victim disarmament. But we wish to remind him that Aaron Zelman’s true legacy of ‘Never Again’ lives on in the hearts and minds of those who understand the dangers of gun control. TZP’s motto says it all: “Jews. Guns. No compromise. No surrender.” That’s on the TZP yarmulke, too, Ted.

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About The Zelman Partisans: TZP was established in 2014 to maintain the late Aaron Zelman’s vision. We are a group of Jews and friends who stand uncompromisingly for the right to keep and bear arms — and the entire Bill of Rights. We will keep a close eye on both the enemies of our rights and the compromising “friends” of the Second Amendment who try to sell us out while pretending to be allies.

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TZP looking for some writers

The Partisans are looking for a few good writers
Would you like to write guest commentary for The Zelman Partisans? We’re looking for eloquent writers who have interesting things to say about guns, gun rights, or self defense. This can be a one-time thing or a regular (e.g. once a month) gig. It can be commentary on the news, a personal story, or a sharing of your expertise. You don’t have to be Jewish. You do have to be uncompromising on gun rights and able to meet a deadline.

I write a little for The Zelman Partisans (as well as run their newsletter list and make an occasional suggestion). But I think my writing often gets a bit over the top and confrontational. That’s fine on my own blog, and in some instances at TZP; but generally I don’t want to dump crap in someone else’s venue. So it would be great to have some other writers’ material to fall back on when I overdo it.

And no one really wants to see my commentary in every TZP newsletter every week.