Arms and the Law

Here's a pic taken late in the process. The forward wall has been crushed in at three places, and in the center the tank entered almost its entire length. The previous photo shows how the right side had been torn open. And at the rear another CEV has destroyed half the "gym." I was there when they took the deposition of Danny Coulson, former HRT commander who monitored the operation from Washington, and he said that until he walked into the room he'd had no idea how much of the building had been destroyed or that tanks penetrated nearly their full length.

One key to what happened on the day of the fire lies in claims that the Davidians shot at the FBI armored vehicles. As a general rule, AR-15s with 55 gr bullets are not considered good anti-tank rounds. Multiple hits in the same place may, however, require touch-up painting.

The FBI plan, as sold to Janet Reno, called for quite slow injections of CS "tear gas," more designed to annoy the Davidians into coming out. However, this could be changed to an all-out assault if the Davidians shot at the tanks (no reason was given for this, but they slid it past Reno).

The claim was that the Davidians began shooting early in the assault and continue throughout it. The incident commander testified that was why he out't let the fire trucks respond to the fire -- too dangerous, with the fanatic Davidians shooting.

Here's one of the aerial photos, taken late in the assault (notice how shredded the building is). Three armored vehicle are parked to the left (I inserted an enlarged area above them). It certainly looks as if one crewman has dismounted and is standing in the open, within about 50 yards of the building. That's not a shadow, the sun is high and notice how small the tank's shadows are.

Here is a pic I objected via FOIA, showing the very beginning of the Feb. 28 firefight in front of the building. The surviving Davidians (who were at the front of the building) said the first shots involved BATF firing through the double doors. The photo shows three agents kneeling and apparently shooting at the double doors. There are also bullet holes, barely visible, there and elsewhere. The agents' "cover" doesn't seem to match claims that the Davidians deluged them with gunfire.

To start things off, here is a BATF report of their activities on February 19, 1993, nine days before the first raid and gun battle.

Background: BATF claimed that the massive raid (80+ agents, three borrowed military helicopters, a large caravan of vehicles) was necessary because David Koresh was a paranoid recluse who never left the Davidians' building and thus could not be arrested peacefully.

To monitor the Davidians, BATF put several agents in what came to be called the "undercover house," across the street from the Davidian residence (albeit "across the street" here means a couple of hundred yards away). This report details what those agents did on February 19.

They went shooting.

With David Koresh.

They had all the guns. Koresh had one unarmed Davidian with him. Then Koresh went home, and the agents went back to planning the raid.

I attended the Waco memorial this year, first time in years that I haven't had some emergency supervene. I think next week on this blog will be largely devoted to that topic. I found it amazing how forgiving the Davidians are. Example: in front of the rebuilt church is a memorial to the BATF agents killed in the initial assault, and to the dead of Oklahoma City:

"What You Might Not Know About Harriet Tubman, Gun-Toting Slave Liberator" at Conservative Review.

So points out Clayton Cramer.

The media has been playing up the court's ruling allowing the Brady Campaign lawsuit against Bushmaster to proceed, notwithstanding the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. A look at the actual ruling rather than the news accounts shows the ruling is far less significant than the media claims.

It appears that Connecticut procedures allow a defendant to move to dismiss a case in different ways, including arguing (1) the plaintiff has no case, or (2) the court doesn't even have jurisdiction to decide whether plaintiff has a case. (It's not clear to me whether you can do both in the same motion, as you can with federal practice). Buahmaster's attorneys chose to argue (2): the PLCAA deprives a State court of jurisdiction to determine a case that the statute covers. And that's the argument that the court turned down. Assuming CT procedures permit this, Bushmaster can now proceed to argue that plaintiff doesn't have a case.

David Codrea reports a conversation with Mike last night. He and Mike were keys to opening up "Operation Fast and Furious." He writes that Mike is coming home from the hospital, but that doctors give him about a month to live.

No Lawyers, Only Guns and Money has an updated one online. It says something that things are changing so quickly (and all in the direction of greater freedom) that you have to make sure any chart is up to date.

In terms of population, they calculate that 65% live in "shall issue" states, 27% in "may issue," 7% in "don't need" and 0.4% in "can't get" states.

It's not so many years ago, I think up 'till the mid 1980s, that the entire country was, in terms of concealed carry, either "can't get" or "may issue," Vermont being the one exception. (Like many western states, Arizona was "can't get" for concealed carry and "don't need" for open carry).

Right here. Guy Smith, its central person, hopes to expand efforts toward pro-gun Youtube messages and undertake other projects.

"To continue this winning streak, we need your help. We want to continue educating the masses, like we did last year when we:
• Broke the code on why some polls show gun ownership steady while others show it declining.
• Showed that "lax law" states are not the source of crime guns, but that "strict law" states are.
• Launched a YouTube channel with snappy 60-second videos for you to share.
• Showed why "universal" background checks are not universal, and why they make no difference in gun crime.
• Ignited a push-back to the phony "gun violence research" drive, a counter-punch already organically circulating on the net.
• Deconstructed the myth that firearms are an anti-woman issue.
• Destroyed the Missouri myth that getting permission to buy a gun stops crime.
• Demonstrated why American street gangs are the prime source of gun violence.
• Showed that permitless (constitutional) carry is a non-problem."

In Idaho. And for that matter, most of the tier of states contiguous to Canada.

British tourist robbed, fatally stabbed, in middle of a busy San Francisco street, and locals express shock.

Man steals hot dog and beer from a couple running a 7-11 in Los Angeles, stabs the wife and fatally stabs the husband coming to her defense, locals express shock.

Three armed robbers attack South Los Angeles taco stand, the owner is armed and shoots, one robber DOA, the surviving robbers being sought.

Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned here....

It's the favorite tool of serial killers. We probably have to go slowly, though, better half a loaf than none, maybe just take one slice at a time. First, regulate cars as tightly as we do guns, no purchases without a background check, no interstate sales, possession forbidden to felons, persons with mental commitments, illegal aliens, etc.. Then outlaw these particularly dangerous vehicles.

Hat tip to Instapundit.

Right here. Very handy -- 1,800 manuals already in the database, and two thousand more to be uploaded.

This animated chart tracks the dramatic expansion of right to carry between 1986 and 2014. Impressive!

Dave Workman asks, Did Hillary's antigun position hurt her in the Michigan primary?

Here's an article I wrote on the subject, eons ago in 1986, when the bicentennial of the Constitution was approaching (a very big deal in Washington DC at the time). I later found it interesting that while the Constitution got a bicentennial committee headed by former Chief Justice Burger, and plenty of hoopla, the bicentennial of the Bill of Rights two years later got almost no play. I suppose in Washington, DC, a company town if ever there was one, the document that created the company/government was occasion for major celebrations, whereas the document which restrained that government was a mere inconvenience, a sop to Americans who had so unwisely distrusted the wonderful government that had been created.

UPDATE: Thanks, I corrected the pdf....

Story here. The Senate vote was 23-11, House vote was 64-33. (As I read the State constitution, a veto override requires a simple majority).

Video here. For some reason, the bill was withdrawn.