This Just In

Derange Gunman Opens Fire On Shooting Range. Or in other news someone involved in an open-carry shooting is revealed to have "additional artillery" of 6 guns and 1300 rounds of ammo in his home. Sadly the second story is not from the Onion.

For Use with a Detroit Tigers Cap

Jalopnik noticed a 1981 Ferrari GTSi for about $12k on eBay. Why so cheap? Well the body and interior are in good shape, but under the rear bonnet is... the 2.8 liter V6 and it's manual transmission from a Pontiac Fiero. It's like every kit car in reverse.

Now the commenters over at Jalopnik are split. I'm in the little bit of awesome camp. The bodywork and interior are in great shape. The stock Ferrari tires are oddly sized and therefore ridiculously expensive, so the owner changed hubs to something widely available. The original US spec Ferrari engine is both ridiculously maintenance intensive and woefully underpowered because of it's 80s era smog controls. Was the Fiero transplant the best way to address this? No. But a change to something more powerful and more reliable would be very interesting. Something high-revving would be appropriate. Several people have suggested the Yamaha V6 from the SHO. I would think a number of 3ish liter Honda V6s might work as well.

And I love the 308 GTSi. Maybe it's the years of watching Magnum P.I. as a kid. Just looking at the pictures makes me want to buy a Tigers cap and a Hawaiian shirt. When I think about Ferraris, I think of the US Spec 308 GTS. Unlike the rest of the world, I actually enjoy what the US spec bumpers do to the cars lines. If I had a garage, I'd think about bidding. Since I don't (and this car has '80s era rust proofing) I guess I'll have to pass. And keep my eye out.

Fun with Acetylene

Even though a coworker recently bought a FourTwo, I think I'd still rather have this chopped and welded, superdeformed VW Golf.

No-Fly 2nd Amendment Abridgement

Fifteen months ago I addressed a Rahm Emanuel clip from before the 2008 election that suggested using the no-fly terrorist watch list as a basis for denying gun ownership to a large number of individuals.  The issues with this proposal are:

• Gun ownership is a constitutionally enumerated and protected right which ought not be abridged without due process.  The no-fly list ain't due process.
• The no-fly list is a joke.  It is a list of names and lacks truly unique identifiers.  This means that the false positive rate is ridiculous (just ask my wife's uncle).  It can also be easily foiled by such simple linguistic tricks as alternate name spellings.
• Buying a gun from a dealer requires a background check.  Anyone on the no-fly list ought to be flagged for further review anyway.

Spearheaded by NYC Mayor Bloomberg, the left has picked up on this concept again after the Times Square non-bombing and is running with it. If you'd like to read more, here are some links in order of occurrence:

• The NYT gets behind Bloomberg's proposal with an Op-Ed.
• SayUncle notices that apply this standard of review to speech would never be acceptable to the Times. Also notes that the Times bomber was removed from the watch list.
• Pajamas Media wades in on the side of the Angels.
• The NSSF responds to NYT editorial.  Also here.
• Bill Clinton gets behind Bloomberg.
• The Atlanta Journal Constitution calls compares opposition watch-list proposal to witch burners.  Well hey at least I'm not a Nazi yet. The inlaws would probably find that embarrassing.
• Bloomberg and Clinton videos.