Friday, July 29, 2011

It's like the opposite of true.

The msnbc.com headline reads:
Congresswoman: Norway gunman touted lax US gun laws
The only parenthetical reference to any "US gun laws" from the whackjob in the body of the article is as follows:
Had to buy through a smaller US supplier (who again ordered from other suppliers) as most suppliers have export limitations…
Which is not "touting" and strikes me as rather the opposite of "lax".

So, what? Are they that much more expensive in Norway?* I'm pretty sure that Norway doesn't have any magazine capacity limitations. There were some Norwegian members at The High Road and The Firing Line with some pretty slammin' gun collections, including cool pieces like short-barreled HK G36's and the like, which they loved to post pictures of during the dark years of 1994-2004.

People talk endlessly about "lax" US gun laws and "tough" European gun laws as though we were talking about monolithic entities, but Norway's gun laws are, on balance, no tougher than New Jersey's, and a resident of Massachusetts would shed tears of joy to swap his state's gun laws with those of, say, the Czech Republic.

This is just more chattering of nonsense by people who lie awake at night worried about the kind of guns that have shoulder things that go up.

___________________________
* Ah. I know now. It's a Mini-14, for which factory 30-rounders are not at all common and, for all I know, impossible to find in Norway. They're none too common stateside, either, unless you go mail order.

23 comments:

Tango Juliet said...

Ooohh!! Those shoulder things that go up!!

Bram said...

Sounds more like he was "circumventing" US law.

Anonymous said...

DItto what Bram said. Sounds like the laws were pretty effective in what they were intended to do, except for his being outside the US and (I'm guessing here) in a country that does not ask/require US firearms dealers to report multiple purchases of something.
LittleRed1

Lanius said...

Speaking of Czech Republic.. That murderous dolt Breivik tried to buy an AK-47 in Prague once.

Somewhere he got the idea that Prague is a dangerous and lawless city inhabited by many hardened criminals. He spent six days I think there and tried to buy a gun and some handgrenades.

Apparently, they suspected he was either a cop or a lunatic and no one sold him nothing. Poor Anders had to contend with whoring* a little.

*there are some nice brothels in Prague I'm told. There's even one where they don't charge that much because the whole brothel is rigged top to bottom with high def webcams and they stream the entertainment there.

-------------------------

Idiot should've gone to Kosovo or maybe Albania. He probably didn't have the guts for that, I guess.

Anonymous said...

I'm one who thinks that kind of chattering nonsense is sourced from people who lie awake at night worried about an armed and free populace, and planning how they can use anything and everything to chip away at both of those modifiers.

AT

Anonymous said...

The idiot that shipped the magazine need an export license to send it overseas by US law.

No one would go through the hoops for just a couple Ruger magazines so they must have thought Uncle Sam will find out and shipped away.

That will be a very costly mistake.

Gerry

Anonymous said...

..Uncle Sam will not find out...

Sorry

Gerry

Stranger said...

If Breivik used a Mini 14 for the mass killing he ordered 30 round mags here to save money. And he says as much.

But that much discussed picture is a photoshop, and the Norwegian police have not, as of 6 AM Oslo time, said what weapons Breivik had. And what sort of ammo he used.

But the surgeons still say the "bullets turned to dust" in the victims bodies. Perimeter control ammo in 7.62 X 39 is my guess since the Russians reportedly left tonnes of the rounds when they left Eastern Europe.

Stranger

Spade said...

I guess McCarthy has never heard of ITAR.

Bubblehead Les. said...

Lord, who gave the Crazies on the Corner fresh batteries for their Bullhorns? How long will those yammerheads like McCarthy keep getting re-elected?

Kristophr said...

Yep. Major ITAR violation by a US online vendor.

Some meathead is about to go to prison.

JD said...

"This is just more chattering of nonsense by people who lie awake at night worried about the kind of guns that have shoulder things that go up."

And barrel shrouds, don't forget the barrel shrouds...whatever they are...

alcade said...

Why is McCarthy pushing all these useless laws when she could be giving the Norwegians some valuable advice we've all come to know is truth: If they'd just have given him what he wanted, he would have left them alone.

Anonymous said...

So, a member of Congress made an assertion?

Um... These days, I'd give more credence to a filthy, bearded, drunken hobo babbling to himself in a dumpster.

Stretch said...

Touted? Perhaps he meant "flouted."
Since literacy tests have been ruled unconstitutional for voters we should get a literacy test for candidates.

Matt G said...

As much as it pains me to say so, he did sort of tout American laws, though in a sort of incoherent manner:
"'I envy our European American brothers as the gun laws in Europe sucks [expletive] in comparison.'"

Ancient Woodsman said...

Magpul would make a mint off of a special run of "McCarthy commemorative 'banana clip' 30-round PMags".

The right color yellow polymer exists and is used for other public safety applications. I'd bet most gunnies with a sense of humor would have to buy at least one just so as to piss her off.

On the main issue, I've got a box full of Ruger factory 30 rounders. They haven't jumped down out of the attic yet to do anything illegal.

ukecanek said...

Re. the gun laws in CZ:

They are neither tougher nor more lax, simply different. 40+ years of Communist rule have thinned the ranks of civilian shooters, since you had to be a party member of high standing, to be even considered for a permit.

Since 1989, things have gotten a bit better, but there are very few armed civilians (only 4 shooting ranges in Prague). This, in turn, leads to a very low "demand" for changes.

At this time, you have to be over 21, pass an is-he-a-psycho test, some basic fireamrs knowledge quiz, and demonstrate capability to operate firearms safely. That however, is the relatively easy part. All these things are just part of the process of applying for a permit. The "demonstrated need" part is a formality, and having a clean record of crimes above certain sentence treshold is (I think) common in the US as well.

There is however a tricky criteria of being a "reliable citizen". This allows the keystone kandidates to deny the permit for a wide array of reasons, up to, and including, being detained during a peaceful protest, or having too many parking tickets. The police(men?) do not _have_ to deny it, but they _can_, wich of course, does not lead to bribery at all...

Technically, the law makes CZ an "shall issue" country, but the (un)reliability sticker makes us a "may(be) issue", depending on the police precinct.

All firearms are registered (though there is not any balistic fingerprinting), and "written into" your permit. You cannot buy any firearm without a valid permit, nor can you buy ammo without it. No supressors, no laser sights, no ful auto (well, absent special permits, but there are very few of these). You can carry more or less anywhere, excluding courts, large public events and suchlike. Carrying a gun while drunk is illegal and "may" (read will) lead to losing your permit. There are no laws about brandishing, open carry is technically legal, but socially awkward.

Comparing to what I can (quickly) find on the net about MA, it seems to me about on par with that state.

I think that what differs is not necessarily part of "gun" laws, but is rather caused by different legal culture and less fragmented jurisdiction in CZ.

Regards,

uke

(Being probably the only Czech reader ;-))

Lanius said...

@ukecanek

You don't need to pass the psycho test. I'm a nice psycho and I just asked my doctor politely and smiled a lot and she gave me thumbs up.. no psych test required.

Lanius said...


Also.. open carry is *definitely* not legal outside of your own property.


Open carry is only legal for swords, pikes, halbers, daggers, maces, clubs, morningstars, machetes, chainsaws etc..

ukecanek said...

@lanius Oh. You are right. Just goes to show that one learns something new every night :)

Anonymous said...

No one is gonna mention that this guy was a radical Christian? If he'd shouted anything resembling "Allah" whilst mowing down innocents, you'd all have your panties in a bunch.

Tam said...

Anon 3:47,

Jumped right to the comment box without reading anything, I see.