Media Fail: Americans’ Gun Purchases Are Soaring

Posted: January 10, 2015 by gamegetterII in anti-gun asshattery
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Lately, along with gun control supporters claiming that the number of gun owners is declining, some in the media have been saying that Americans’ gun purchases are declining as well. Last summer, Time.com went so far as to say–and we’re not kidding, here–that guns are one of the 10 Things Americans Have Suddenly Stopped Buying. And this week, a Washington Post headline, Gun sales in Virginia drop in 2014 following 3 years’ growth, suggested that there are fewer gun purchases today than there were three years ago.

The media’s claims about gun purchase trends are based upon the annual numbers of firearm-related background checks conducted through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). NICS statistics are not a perfect measure of gun purchases, but to the extent they illustrate trends in purchases, they show that the rate at which Americans are acquiring firearms is actually increasing.

As the accompanying chart shows, in 2014, the number of firearm-acquisition NICS checks was 45 percent greater than the average number for all preceding years, including 2012 and 2013, during which Americans bought guns at an extraordinarily high rate in response to President Obama’s re-election and subsequent campaign for gun control.

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The increase in firearm acquisitions may actually be greater than indicated in the chart, however. Firearm-acquisition check numbers do not include checks conducted for the purpose of acquiring firearm carry permits, the number of which has risen to an all-time high, and which in some states enable their holders to acquire firearms without going through additional NICS checks.

In the future, let’s hope that reporters show enough pride in their work to do a little basic research, so they can get the facts right. They can begin with the following data, posted by the FBI on its NICS website: NICS Firearm Checks: Year, by State/Type, NICS Firearm Checks (National): Month/Year, NICS Firearm Checks: Month/Year, by State, and NICS Firearm Checks: Month/Year, by State/Type.  Reporters, save these links!

https://db0a4kq1jrpf.cloudfront.net/articles/20150109/media-fail-americans-gun-purchases-are-soaring

More Than Half of Deer in NE Ohio Infected by Feral Cats

Posted: January 10, 2015 by gamegetterII in Uncategorized
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Deer hunters in areas with large feral cat populations are being encouraged to thoroughly cook their venison to avoid danger of infection from a parasite. According to an Ohio State University study published in the journal EcoHealth, researchers took tissue samples from 444 deer and 200 free-roaming cats in the greater Cleveland area. Sixty percent of the deer and more than 65 percent of the cats tested positive for Toxoplasma gondii, the parasite that can infect humans with toxoplasmosis. This disease causes flu-like symptoms, brain or eye damage, and possibly schizophrenia and suicidal behavior in humans, according to Cleveland.com.

The parasite can infect all warm-blooded animals, but members of the felid (cat) family are its primary hosts. It is deposited on the ground along with cat feces and can remain infectious for up to 18 months.

Other studies have shown whitetails in Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Mississippi to be infected with toxoplasma gondii. Urban deer have been shown to have three times the odds of being infected as deer in suburban areas, probably because of the greater density of free-roaming domestic cats around cities.

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/field-notes/more-than-half-of-deer-in-ne-ohio-infected-by-feral-cats?cmpid=enews010915b&spPodID=020&spMailingID=7411665&spUserID=NjI2NzA0MjQyMzcS1&spJobID=601114404&spReportId=NjAxMTE0NDA0S0

Time for a year round open season on feral cats.

Charter Guide Nails Gear Thief With Trail Cam And FaceBook

Posted: January 10, 2015 by gamegetterII in Uncategorized
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Here’s a feel-good revenge piece out of the Sunshine State. After each trip, charter guide C.A. Richardson (who I fished with years ago…good guy) would wash the salt off his tackle and let it dry in his fenced back yard. Over the course of 5 weeks, he estimates that about $5,000 worth of tackle grew legs in the middle of the night. So he hung up a trail cam. It didn’t take long for him to capture photos of the trophy-class moron that was nicking his stuff. After he got the shots, he posted them on FaceBook, and learned the name of the 15-year-old culprit in no time. The police are now on it.  I give C.A. credit for handling it like a gentleman. Some people I know would have gotten the name and paid the kid a visit to see if he liked baseball equipment as much as fishing tackle.

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/the-lateral-line/charter-guide-nails-gear-thief-with-trail-cam-and-facebook?cmpid=enews010915b&spPodID=020&spMailingID=7411665&spUserID=NjI2NzA0MjQyMzcS1&spJobID=601114404&spReportId=NjAxMTE0NDA0S0

Bracken Sends

Posted: January 10, 2015 by gamegetterII in Uncategorized
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School House Finally Rocks: SC Is Going To Actually Teach Kids Facts About Guns

Posted: January 10, 2015 by gamegetterII in Uncategorized
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deacon303's avatarWhiskey Tango Foxtrot

A pair of bills filed in each house of South Carolina’s legislature aim to eliminate the zero-tolerance attitude towards guns in schools by allowing or even mandating gun safety and Second Amendment-related curricula.

State Rep. Alan Clemmons, who introduced the House bill, says he was inspired to act by the story of a student who was arrested at school over a fictional essay he wrote in which he talked about buying a gun to kill a neighbor’s pet dinosaur. The zero-tolerance attitude towards guns in schools, Clemmons argues, is undermining knowledge of, and respect for, the Second Amendment.

“We are giving short shrift to the one amendment that protects all others,” Clemmons told The Greenville News.

Under Clemmons’ proposed bill, one-third of an existing nine-week educational unit dedicated to the U.S. Constitution would now be centered on education related to the Second Amendment, including textual analysis as well as…

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Popcorn Sutton: Whiskey Rebel

Posted: January 9, 2015 by gamegetterII in Uncategorized
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Snoop Snitch: Counter-Surveillance App for Cell Phones

Posted: January 9, 2015 by gamegetterII in Uncategorized
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by Samuel CulperJanuary 9, 2015

In July 2014, U.S. users of CryptoPhone 500 noticed something odd: a smattering of fake cell towers, known as “interceptors”, attempting to trick cellular phones into revealing data.  But the story was more concerning than that.  Under normal circumstances, your cell phone connects to a nearby cell tower, which has a name.  In the case of these nameless interceptor towers, not only were CryptoPhones automatically forced to connect, but their phones’ encryption were shut down, allowing the towers access to unencrypted data on the phone.

It was later discovered that these towers were operated by the federal government by organizations such as the NSA.  And it doesn’t stop there; even local law enforcement agencies are getting in on the snooping action through the use of StingRays.  These devices not only capture cell phones’ IMSI numbers, which can be used to identify individual owners of cell phones, but they can also be used to spy on phone calls and text messages.  At least 18 states have these types of towers, which mimic common carriers like AT&T and Verizon.  Since then, these types of stories have ignited further privacy concerns over cell phones and what information they make available, especially in light of NSA surveillance.

In response, Security Research Labs recently published SnoopSnitch, an Android-based cell phone app that discovers and alerts users to connecting interceptor towers.

“SnoopSnitch is an Android app that collects and analyzes mobile radio data to make you aware of your mobile network security and to warn you about threats like fake base stations (IMSI catchers), user tracking and over-the-air updates. With SnoopSnitch you can use the data collected in the GSM Security Map at gsmmap.org and contribute your own data to GSM Map,” according to the company’s website.

Tower location information is collected and mapped by the many users of SnoopSnitch, and available to see through the phone app.  According to users, there is not enough information collected to produce a map in the U.S.

Right now, SnoopSnitch is only available for phones with Qualcomm chipsets running the Android phone platform.

https://readfomag.com/2015/01/snoop-snitch/

Bracken Sends

Posted: January 8, 2015 by gamegetterII in Uncategorized
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Equal Time: A Former Policeman Responds

Posted: January 8, 2015 by gamegetterII in Uncategorized
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I’m surprised anyone responded at all.
Too few are like this guy-too many view “civilians” as the enemy.

Backyard Mini-Foundry

Posted: January 8, 2015 by gamegetterII in Uncategorized
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Add some coal and some forced air to the charcoal-and things that melt at higher temps could be melted and…

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