2005-03-04: Groupware

That having been said, if you the reader are one of my users and hunger after some particular PHP app, let me know which one... I may be able to find a similar app in mod_perl or CGI format for you. I don't object to guestbooks, small forums, etc... just ones written in PHP.

And after having said THAT, I'm going to install more.groupware on my linux box at work and see if that takes care of our departmental requirement. Internal-only apps are subject to less stringent security requirements than internet-facing apps which must deal with, say, commercial spam operations operating out of Romania. I swear, Romania makes some pretty guns (ROMAK family, SAR family, etc), but I wish their neighboring countries wouldn't let internet access through until the severed heads of Romanian spammers became their capital's new decor.

And on the gun front, I got a very interesting letter from DOJ today. I guess it counts as getting a woman's phone number, too, as a direct number was included in case I had any more information to provide on the subject. Basically, at the last gun show in Del Mar, a guy whom I assume was an out of state vendor was selling hi-cap magazine parts KITS. Not just a few parts, he was selling everything minus one part, which he then told folks to buy on the web from a website I won't mention here. He was smirking quite proudly and telling folks that CA's law doesn't prohibit them from assembling hi-cap mags from parts. That didn't sound right to me, as section 12020.A.2 of the California penal code specifically lists "manufactures or causes to be manufactured" as violations of the high capacity magazine law. I guess it's hard to track and hard to prove, but apparently selling parts kits is a bit much. The most interesting paragraph from the DOJ's response was: "a California resident who possessed a high capacity magazine prior to the law's enactment is in lawful possession (if not otherwise prohibited). Replacing parts on this magazine because of usage or defect is allowed. Assemblying new parts into a magazine would violate the law. The out-of-state-vendors selling the parts could be charged as conspirators in violating this law, especially if they are claiming, "that the assembly of high-capacity magazines from imported parts does not constitute a violation of California's law." I shall forward a copy of my reply to you to our Supervising Special Agent for any action he may deem necessary."

So, the moral of the story here is, if it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is. I'll be amused if I get visited by the DOJ while they're trying to hunt down hi-cap mag kit "smuggling rings". Frankly, I wish there was a way I could become an official DOJ firearms division volunteer - PROVIDED that I was under no obligation to report / arrest offenders who complied and removed their products from sale. That mag guy (and the guys selling night vision scopes) annoy me. Not because I see anything wrong with what they're selling, but because they're telling people that it's legal for them to buy stuff that can get them in prison. "The salesman told me it was legal!" is almost useless in court.