With all of this talk about Obama pushing for more expansion on smart guns I am surprised to see very little reflection on Colt’s attempt in the 90’s, which was recently covered by NPR.

Donald Zilkha, an investment banker who was not a gun owner, bought the company in the 90’s. He had a plan to lead Colt into being the first company to producing smart guns.

While the technology and reliability was the big concern, the engineers at Colt felt they could tackle that challenge.

However, the biggest problem was one that Zilkha admits that he had not considered. “I hadn’t totally fully understood the culture.” He found out that many gun owners were skeptical of a gun that required technology to work in a life or death situation. To overcome this and to reach everyone else, Zilkha planned to demonstrate the technology for the Wall Street Journal. The tech used was a bracelet that used a radio frequency from a wristband that the shooter must wear.

Then the second problem occured at the demostration- the gun did not fire when it should have. It made the front page of the WSJ, and the smart gun from Colt was dropped. Since then no big gun company has produced smart guns, at least not effectively.

So there is a history of unreliability and not big market for such a product. Manufacturers and dealers should not be forced to supply something, especially when their is no demand. I don’t care if people want smart guns for their home. That’s your freedom to make that decision. However, I, as well as millions of others, do not want smart guns in our houses. It’s the same reason as to why I do not want a low quality gun, I prefer to own something reliable.

So the next time you see someone wanting smart guns just remember that it is their choice to want one, but it is not anyone’s choice what you should own.

Have a nice day, everybody.

It is sad but I am actually ashamed of being a Gun Owner this week. But after seeing the reaction of many of my fellow practitioners of the Second Amendment about the NRA’s “deal” regarding the DISCLOSE bill, I feel I’ve been sharing my time amongst people that sit on their stoops drinking cheap beer and waiting for the welfare check to come in the mail. The voices seem especially loud in blogs and gun forums where the NRA is denounced as a quisling organization selling out to Washington special interests and “throwing other gun groups under the bus.” You gotta love how often this tag line was repeated among the interweb blabbermouths over and over till it became the official Talking Point demonstrating a lack of independent thinking and an overdose of mob mentality.

The DISCLOSE bill is an attempt to bring back the worst of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Reform Act of 2002 struck down by the Supreme Court. McCain-Feingold was a dragon that the NRA faced for seven years at considerable effort and expenditure but I think few Gun Owners actually understood or cared much after the 2008 election. The Democrat-controlled Congress is trying to resuscitate this evil zombie once more through DISCLOSE. Again there was little or no enthusiasm among the Second Amendment populace that is until the NRA managed to obtain a tentative exception from the creators of the bill, as they should have done, since their only worry should be their ability to defend loudly the Second Amendment and the rights of Gun Owners. Only then all Hades erupted and the NRA found itself the target of the arrows of inadequacy from those who did not care before but felt betrayed that the monies of the NRA members and whatever results it may achieve were not shared with those that couldn’t care less for the NRA.

I think many fail to see that if left unchecked, DISCLOSE had a great chance to pass. This bill was being crafted stealthily while the Nation’s attention was concentrated on the Gulf’s oil spill. Once finalized, DISCLOSE would have sailed from Congress to the White House for signature in the time it takes for a politician to come up with a lie. If you don’t believe me, just remember that the Health Care Reform Bill was opposed loudly and constantly by the majority of Americans and it is now the law of the land. I cannot blame the NRA for trying to stay vocal when everybody else was watching and fawning over oil-covered seagulls on TV and balls of tar screwing with the summer vacation in Florida, oblivious to what was happening in Congress. It was much easier for the Moochers to find an easier target with a history of remaining silent as not to endanger the defense of the Second Amendment no matter how vile the attacks were. On its last statement, the NRA was quite clear:

The NRA is a bipartisan, single-issue organization made up of millions of individual members dedicated to the protection of the Second Amendment.  We do not represent the interests of other organizations.  That’s their responsibility.  Our responsibility is to protect and defend the interests of our members.  And that we do without apology.

And now, the Moochers. In its immense majority, the loudest of the loud complaining about the NRA in forums and some Blogs, commenced their denunciations by saying, “and this is one more example why I left the NRA eons ago!” Wait one damn minute. You are not a member of the NRA, you do not contribute but yet you feel entitled to collect the benefits that others have so hard worked for and complain when you didn’t get your free 52” plasma Digital TV in the mail?

When The Moochers asked to what organization they belong, they proudly puff their chest out and proclaim that they belong to a No-Compromise group. When asked about ANY pro-gun legislation has its roots or achievements attached to this No Compromise group, they remain conspicuously silent, try to deflect the issue or mention cases and laws actually brought to bear by the NRA or other groups and pass them as their own (DC v Heller and the Katrina Laws are embarrassing examples of this depraved intellectual looting). The embarrassing truth is that the No-Compromise organizations are just No-Achievement Mobs, who have no qualms in taking credit for events and successes that they were not a part of or even awake when they happened.

It has been open season on the NRA for a long while within the confines of the Gun Rights war. It has been a two front war being the most common the one against Anti Second Amendment groups, Traditional Media, Ultra Liberals and those who see Armed Citizens a direct threat against their thirst for power. And then we have had the shadow wars of jealous and petty people within the Gun Rights movement who hate the fact they are unable to instantly become the 800 pound gorilla that the NRA took years to be.

So, when did some Gun Owners become moochers? Aren’t we supposed to be independent, self reliant and defenders of the Second Amendment and our organizations? When did posture become more important that real work and real results? When did it become acceptable to backstab your fellow Gun Owners because you don’t agree 100% with a gun rights organization? Why theft of achievements has become proper manners and tactics? I know these groups are festering sores not only for the NRA but also for every Gun Owner and Gun Organization that actually cares for the health of the Second Amendment. This has been one of the NRA’s biggest mistakes: by trying to avoid giving ammunition to the opposition, the NRA and other groups have ignored the constant attacks by these organized Moochers. We know that nobody is going to agree 100% all the time, but at least there was an effort to agree to disagree among organizations, to keep the tone civilized and not to snipe on each other. The No-Compromise groups are either too stupid to understand this or too greedy to care (I am betting that membership fees are a great part of the reason for their viciousness) and go on the rampage whenever it suits them and do not mind the damage they can cause.

Now you can bet the Opposition has noticed this divide and they are starting to plan how to use it in the future. They know that AHSA was a small success in diverting attention and misdirecting this administration’s anti Second Amendment agenda and obtaining a few extra votes, but even AHSA has now disappeared, Brady has become irrelevant and they need another wedge to split Gun Owner and that will be the No-Compromise Mob. The NRA and every single Gun Owner that actually cares for Gun Rights must put a stop to the Moochers and bring to light their pitiful selfishness. The Second Amendment cannot afford to carry scorpions on our backs anymore.

The “No Compromise” bunch keeps ratcheting the noise against the NRA. While most Pro 2A will agree to disagree but will not set fire to each other’s fire hoses, the Gun Owners of America has become the best allied the Obama Administration has against private ownership of firearms since the VPC and the Brady Bunch and so they must be brought out to the light.

Under the helm of Larry Pratt, who some say never leaves home with his personal set of embroidered sheets, and a book of selected dictums from James Buchanan (The Pat Robertson of politics), the GOA fancies itself as the true Second Amendment/No Compromise organization. That they haven’t been able to do anything effective other suck up membership fees out of the gullible commando-wannabees and being used as reference by the Anti Second Amendment crowd is a different tune that should not be mentioned in order to keep the image.

It is my opinion that alongside the now defunct and pro-Obama AHSA, GOA has done more damage to the The Right to Keep and Bear Arms than Sarah Brady and Chuck Schummer combined by trying to split Gun Owners away from the most effective Gun Rights organization there is.  That the GOA has consistently batted around zero in his alleged Pro-2A efforts is not mentioned by the organization itself. It is sort like a rogue doctor that badmouths the “Medical Establishment” for not curing 100% of the sick people but has never cured anyone himself and has a tough time operating a band aid.

According to the GOA, they themselves by them lonesome were responsible for the DC v Heller Supreme Court decision but other than introducing an amicus curiae, they had no influence whatsoever in the presentation to the Court. They are also allegedly responsible for the Katrina Bills, although they never showed up in New Orleans or pretty much gave a damn about its gun owners or to recover their confiscated weapons. GOA does have a pattern to claim somebody else’s success (including the NRA’s. Ain’t that sweet?”) as their own.

We know damn well that the NRA is not perfect and that its rating system has now been figured by scum politicos to be gamed in their favor, but it is still a far cry better than a group of wailers that have not contributed one iota in favor of my gun rights and whose leader would not mind at all having my gun rights removed because I happen to have a non-Anglo surname.

I am taking a little break after spending a better part of my waking hours today filling 17 pages to apply for a Florida’s Slot Machine Individual Occupational License and Professional or Business Employee Supplemental Information. If you want to work in any casino in Florida in any capacity (may it be as owner,  a blackjack dealer or sweeping the sidewalks) you must get this license. The amount of information required by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation is so intrusive it is ticking me off royally but I got to think that about half the people in our current administration in DC wouldn’t be able to apply for this license at all. Florida demands info for proof of citizenship as in a Birth Certificate to IRS records to having never been in an police investigation, fraud, dishonorable discharge, any civil, criminal or investigative procedure, Grand Jury investigations, pardons, local or state code violations, etc.

Geez…. To think I am more prepared to be Czar or Secretary of something than the Hope & Change Gang.

I have a feeling Capone was a much honorable adversary than ACORN.

PMY commented in the last thread the following:

Absolutely NO ONE swore obedience to the president or to any one appointed by him unto death, as God is our witness. ONE person pleadged SERVICE to him. Two others pledged to be a “servent” to him. (ie to help him)

And missed the whole point. We, the Citizens of the United States of America, do not pledge to anybody. Our only pledge is to the One Nation, Under God. We pledge to the basic principle that created this country and is represented in the Constitution. We respect but never bow whether by body or by mind. Not even the President, who was elected to serve the Country and us, does not (should not) pledge to anything but to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.  But I guess if he bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, it would be natural that us, lesser mortals should bow to him.

Pledge:: a bailment of a chattel as security for a debt or other obligation without involving transfer of title b : the chattel so delivered c : the contract incidental to such a bailment
2 a : the state of being held as a security or guaranty b : something given as security for the performance of an act

By via of Michelle Malkin, the new Hollywood production of Buttkissers for Obama shown at Eagle Bay Elementary School in Farmington, Utah. This has gone far beyond Beverly Hills left wing rubbish and now us just plain scary. No, I am not making it up, the title do reflect a pledge in the video.

I know that any comparison to the Nazis is considered a Non-Starter, but this is the first thing the video above reminded me of:

We pledge to you, Adolf Hitler, loyalty and bravery. We swear obedience to you and the superiors appointed by you, even unto death, as God is our witness.
The SS Oath

Sorry, but this is the only pledge I’ll ever say.

And just in case:

I do solemnly swear, or affirm, that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; pledging my life, my fortune and my sacred honor, so help me God.

And if you still haven’t figured it out: Only subjects pledge to a head of state. We are Citizens!