Tag Archives: Arma Virumque

Cognitive Dissonance in Tucson

12th
Jan. × ’11
By Roderick

Pundits are reacting with gross (but predictable) inconsistency to the Tucson shooting: denouncing all calls for violence – even purely metaphorical ones – only to issue their own calls for violence of a decidedly non-metaphorical sort, in the form of restrictions on free speech or gun ownership or equal protection or whatever. So far is [...]

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Alongside Machete

24th
Sep. × ’10
By Roderick

Okay, Machete isn’t Hitchcock or anything; but it’s a fun movie. It also has some interesting libertarian aspects: It’s explicitly in favour of open borders.   It’s implicitly in favour of the right to bear arms.   It dramatises countereconomic resistance to government (“the Network”).   It also dramatises the “Baptists and bootleggers” dynamic, as [...]

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Camelfeathers?

25th
May. × ’10
By Roderick

Olbermann just described the NRA’s “Eddie Eagle” program as “Joe Camel with feathers” (meaning, I guess, that it’s pro-gun propaganda aimed at children). I’m no fan of the NRA, which is actually a (“moderately”) pro-gun-control organisation and a Republican PAC, but this particular charge is a bum rap. As a former NRA member I’m quite [...]

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Conan on the Beat

20th
May. × ’10
By Roderick

Going through a box of old papers, I found this letter I wrote to the Chapel Hill News back in my North Carolina days; I don’t recall whether it was published. 18 May 1994 To the Editor: The current debate over gun control is the latest, and perhaps the last, skirmish in a centuries-old conflict [...]

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A Question About the Huntsville Shooting

18th
Feb. × ’10
By Roderick

So the media outlets all seem to be saying that Amy Bishop shot six of her colleagues before her gun “jammed,” whereupon she was “pushed out of the room.” We haven’t heard what model gun she was using, but don’t most handguns have just six shots? If so, why not assume her gun ran out [...]

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Gun Rights Versus Secession!

1st
Jun. × ’09
By Roderick

The Mohawks want to ban guns in their territory. Canadian border agents want to carry them. Details here. A simple solution: the Mohawks should secede from Canada and the U.S. Next, any gun-friendly Mohawks should then secede from the seceders. There, all solved. Well, I didn’t say the implementation would be simple ….

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