Electromagnetic pulses (EMP) are oversized outbursts of atmospheric electricity. Whether powered by geomagnetic storms or by nuclear blasts, their resultant intense magnetic fields can induce ground currents strong enough to burn out power lines and electrical equipment across state lines.
There is talk of catastrophe ahead, depending on whom you believe, because of the threat of an electromagnetic pulse triggered by either a supersized solar storm or terrorist A-bomb, both capable of disabling the electric grid that powers modern life.
Meanwhile, in Congress, a “Grid Act” bill aimed at the threat awaits Senate action, having passed in the House of Representatives.
Fear is evident. With the sun’s 11-year solar cycle ramping up for its stormy maximum in 2012, and nuclear concerns swirling about Iran and North Korea, a drumbeat of reports and blue-ribbon panels center on electromagnetic pulse scenarios.
Two historic incidents often figure in the discussion:
• On July 9, 1962, the Atomic Energy Commission and the Defense Atomic Support Agency detonated the Starfish Prime, a 1.4-megaton H-bomb test at an altitude of 250 miles, some 900 miles southwest of Hawaii over the Pacific Ocean. The pulse shorted out streetlights in Oahu.
• On March 9, 1989, the sun spat a million-mile-wide blast of high-temperature charged solar gas straight at the Earth. The “coronal mass ejection” struck the planet three days later, triggering a geomagnetic storm that made the northern lights visible in Texas. The storm also induced currents in Quebec’s power grid that knocked out power for 6 million people in Canada and the USA for at least nine hours.
“A lot of the questions are what steps does it make sense to take,” Legge says. “We could effectively gold-plate every component in the system, but the cost would mean that people can’t afford the rates that would result to pay for it.” - [source]
Acting on the misguided rationalization that the historic and outdated M1 Garand semiautomatic rifle is a threat to American public safety, more about the State Department has canceled plans by the Republic of Korea to return nearly 100, erectile 000 surplus rifles to these shores and the U.S. consumer market.
Granted, the M1 was a military weapon with no use in hunting. But the gangly, long, 11-pound gun that was a staple of American infantrymen from 1936 through the 1957 is also too impractical to be used in street violence, robberies or domestic violence. Crooks, gangs and terrorists opt for far more modern, compact and efficient assault rifles.-[source]
The city of Phoenix has ordered the removal of 50 bus shelter signs promoting gun safety.
The 4×6 signs feature a red heart with the words “Guns Save Lives”. Below it is this message: “Arizona says: Educate Your Kids. TrainMeAZ.com”. It also has several paragraphs of smaller type with information about Arizona’s new law allowing anyone to carry a concealed weapon and directions to a website that contains information about where to enroll in firearms safety classes.
The ads were put up as part of a campaign by TrainMeAZ, hospital a coalition of firearms businesses and Second Amendment supporters who joined forces to promote training in the wake of the new law, price which made previously mandated gun-safety training optional. The group paid $11,000 for the ads, which went up earlier this month and were removed this week.-[source]
Wisconsin’s law banning all felons from ever possessing a gun violates the 2nd Amendment, according to a lawyer for a man who has challenged the long-standing prohibition.
Assistant Public Defender William Louis Poss, of Black River Falls, makes the argument in a motion to dismiss a felon in possession charge against Daniel Rueden of Spencer.
Rueden, 29, was sentenced to two years probation in 2006 for felony theft. He was discharged in 2008, and then in March was charged with having a gun. Poss filed his motion in late July and the case is set for argument in Clark County circuit court in November.
As in that case, Poss cites recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that expressly extended to the states the 2nd Amendment’s right to keep guns. The cases, from 2008 and 2010, overturned gun bans in Washington, D.C. and Chicago.
Poss argues that states can’t deny a fundamental right completely, for life, without the law passing strict scrutiny, that is, it must justified by a compelling government interest, be narrowly tailored to protec that interest, and be the least restrictive means of protecting it.-[source]
In late September, salve several dozen UN representatives met at the University of Massachusetts in Boston to further discuss their plans for global gun control.
While our President may have a history of being absent for important events --missing over 300 votes while in the U.S. Senate, dissing important dignitaries who visit our country, etc. - he was sure to have his administration represented at this meeting.
The final report for the Boston Symposium on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is posted online and states that:
“In the end, we seek to achieve an ATT that will establish the highest possible common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms, including small arms and light weapons, in order to contribute effectively towards peace and stability. This Symposium has brought us one step closer to achieving that goal.”
So, they are one step closer to their goal. What are there goals for our firearms?-[source]
It’s fall here in the Northern Hemisphere, and for a good many of us that means days in the woods looking over a rifle or down an arrow shaft at our local big game. Deer Hunter 3D, a new game on the Android Market from Glu Mobile brings the thrill of the hunt in a more compact form for those times when life, or even work, interferes with time in the stand.
Simply put, it’s fun. You have a choice of venues and weapons, and as you get better and advance in the game, harder levels are bigger animals are unlocked, making it even more fun. Successful hunts give points that can be used to improve your skills — which you’ll need in the hardest levels where only perfect shots and the largest trophies will allow you to advance. As we’ve come to expect from Glu Mobile, the game is smooth, the 3D objects are nicely rendered, and the replay value is high. – [source]
A bill introduced by Representative Dan Boren has firearm owners and gun control supporters in a shootout.
The bill would begin a study into firearm microstamping.
Supporters say microstamping would help law enforcement track bullet cartridges back to the weapon. Opponents in Oklahoma say it’s another shot at gun control, and their second amendment right.-[source]
More Texas women are taking advantage of their right to bear arms than ever before.
Texas Department of Public Safety numbers show that nearly 31,000 women in Texas obtained a license. This is 40% higher than the previous high in 1996 when concealed handgun permits were first issued in Texas.
Marcy Dillon says she decided to get her CHP to protect her children, in case her husband wasn’t around to defend them, “”It’s a security blanket you carry around with you that nobody knows you have.”
Jerry Adams and John Coblentz teach concealed handgun classes and say it’s not just women who are arming themselves. “The people that are pushing gun control are making people nervous and they’re buying weapons,” said Adams.
In Tyler, there were 542 licenses issued in 2008.
In 2009, 770 licenses were issued, an increase of nearly 230 in just one year.
The cost for a CHP is about $300 and includes the course and license.-[source]
The Colorado Supreme Court will hear arguments on the legality of the University of Colorado’s campuswide firearms ban, the court’s justices announced Monday.
In June, the CU Board of Regents voted 5-4 to appeal to the state’s highest court in an effort to overturn a Colorado Court of Appeals decision that CU violated state law by banning concealed weapons from its campuses.
CU has banned concealed weapons on campus since 1994, with an exception for law enforcement. The ban applies at campuses in Boulder, Denver and Colorado Springs.
Officials for both the university and its opposition in the case, Students for Concealed Carry on Campus LLC, said they hope the seven justices provide clarification.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for the Supreme Court to clarify the law in this area, and I think the Court of Appeals’ decision was well-reasoned,” said Jim Manley, a Mountain States Legal Foundation attorney who is representing the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus group.-[source]
In a recent report by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) coalition, troche an anti-gun organization led by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, more about the group misuses firearms tracing data in order to push its own gun-control agenda.
Let’s set the record straight:
The Bureau of Alcohol, more about Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has repeatedly stated, “The appearance of [a licensed dealer] or a first unlicensed purchaser of record in association with a crime gun or in association with multiple crime guns in no way suggests that either the federal firearms licensed dealer (FFL) or the first purchaser has committed criminal acts. Rather, such information may provide a starting point for further and more detailed investigation.” (Crime Gun Trace Analysis Reports, ATF, 1998).-[source]
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Electromagnetic pulses (EMP) are oversized outbursts of atmospheric electricity. Whether powered by geomagnetic storms or by nuclear blasts, their resultant intense magnetic fields can induce ground currents strong enough to burn out power lines and electrical equipment across state lines.
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