Saturday, December 18, 2010

Disarming a Gunloon

Very often we hear pronouncements such as:

I'll never register my guns. Period.or
....from my cold, dead fingers...

yadda, yadda..

In truth, disarming a gunloon is childsplay.  If you ever wish to disarm a gunloon, a tactic that is almost 100% effective is to mention the Brady Center or Sarah Brady within earshot of the gunloon.  The gunloon will cease whatever he is doing and after a quick consultation of the latest NRA literature and bulletins--begin blogging about how meaningless and irrelevant the Brady Center is.  During this interlude, the gunloon is harmless as he struggles with the English language, computer technology and groupthink.

More on the Passing of Don Van Vliet

Yahoo News has the obit.

"Record producers have always been certain that Don Vliet was just a hype away from the big money," according to a 1970 profile in Rolling Stone. "But Beefheart stubbornly continues what he's doing and waits patiently for everyone else to come around."

By shunning commercial success and a more accessible sound, Van Vliet became a role model for subsequent generations of musicians. His music is cited as an influence on the rise of punk, post-punk and new wave. Beefheart is also claimed as a kindred spirit by free jazz musicians and avant-garde classical composers.

Louisville Cops Watch Too Much TV

"Paid administrative leave" are often code words for "let's wait a while till things calm down and then we'll reinstate the unfit maniac to full duty."

What do you think?

Kenneth Duckett - The YMCA Shooting

Up until the time of the shooting, he sounded like a pretty good guy who was simply exercising his 2nd Amendment rights. He'd had some trouble with gangs and there was some kind of restraining order, but he was well off enough to have his kid enrolled in the Montclair Y swimming class. Bad laws be damned, I say.

In his testimony he said he'd just lost it.

It could happen to anyone, hey when the ex-wife takes your kid away, all bets are off.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Censorship in America

The Government Has Lost Focus

Mudrake wrote a good one.

Unpopular wars and deep tax cuts with an unemployment rate near 10 percent. And an already massive national debt as well as a non-functional Congress. What has world history taught us about the consequences of such a combination of colliding events?
It sounds pretty bad, eh?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Captain Beefheart RIP

Friday, December 17, 2010

More on the Tanning Salon DGU

Although this qualifies as one of the super duper DGUs, since the gun used was taken from the bad guy, I have to agree with BantheNRA.  Mr. McDaniel got away with murder. The fact that he expresses no remorse is telling. This is exactly what many pro-gun guys dream about, the chance to save the day with a gun. The problem is sometimes the day is already saved when the shooting begins.

Just Like Badger Guns

There are at least 50 cases like this.

In Indianapolis, Popguns - another top dealer of crime guns according to ATF data - had its license revoked by the agency in 2006. The business remains in operation after owner Mike Hilton's wife received a fresh license and the violations disappeared. Mike Hilton remains closely involved in the operation.

A revoked Mississippi gun dealer said he sold the store to his wife for $1 and now works for her. A dealer in Pennsylvania whose license was revoked simply started using a spare license he had acquired. And a revoked Alabama shop remains in the gun business after an employee created a new corporation that holds the new license.
The fact that business is thriving for these guys is testament to the fact that the customers are not the righteous law-abiding folks some people say they are. These are people, both the cheating gun sellers and the supporting clients, who have no concern for right and wrong. They selfishly perpetuate a system that does grave harm.

They have a name for it too: "The license loophole."

What's your opinion?   Please leave a comment.

Steven Hart on Tom Waits

Steven put together a wonderful tribute to the man who wrote the line, "A murder of silhouette crows I saw."

Thursday, December 16, 2010

More on the The Toughest President

In this fascinating article about the largest man-made accidental explosion of all time, there's this bonus fact.

To subscribe to this wonderful e-mail 
newsletter: http://dlewis.net/nik 


Bonus fact: The Mont Blanc (cargo ship) got its name from the Alpine mountain of the same name, on the French and Italian border.   In 1886, Theodore Roosevelt lead an expedition to its peak -- while vacationing in Europe on his honeymoon.

Arizona Gun Shops

Of course the gun dealers are absolutely powerless to do anything about this. Interestingly, Arizona law requires them to report multiple sales of handguns but not long guns.

Now that's an unfortunate law, don't you think?

David M. Manilla, Lawyer and Hunter

This is a fascinating story that contains several of our favorite issues.

A guy ended up dead on the first day of deer hunting season.  The shooter was a convicted felon, who'd already had one hunting "accident," and who was using a rifle not sanctioned for hunting.

In addition to all that, his hunting partners, including a former Montgomery County district attorney, were more than happy to go tromping through the woods with him.

I'm afraid this is not an unusual situation, guys who are unfit to own guns go on doing so with no interference from their immediate circle of gun buddies. Everyone pretends they're law-abiding citizens, simply bending a few rules along the way.

What's your opinion?  Do you see this as a case of gun owners not policing their own?  It would take a lot of courage to stand up to a gun owner, one of these "hidden criminals" pretending to be legitimate. Who could do such a thing?

Please leave a comment.

Sprague's Sports in Yuma

Given Yuma's proximity to the border, the maturity of the business and its volume of sales, “probably the odds are that some guns are making it into Mexico,” he said. “Unfortunately, some people do break the law once they leave our store.”

That's something he has no control over.
Well, of course they have no control over it as long as they continue to turn a blind eye to obviously suspicious purchasers.

But, we can't expect gun dealers to do the right thing, since many of them are uninterested in nothing other than making a buck. Legitimate gun owners should be the first ones complaining because the only other answer is this

Any gun purchaser must be licensed and each weapon bought must be registered to him.

The registration document and firearm must be presented to the local police after three months from purchase and each year thereafter in order to receive a stamp allowing continuance of the legal registration.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Jon Stewart on Obama and Clinton

Obama Leaves Bill Clinton in White House Briefing Room
The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
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Florida Gunloon

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Grace Slick Interview

via Under the Lobster Scope.

San Diego Permit Requirements Upheld

I guess these restrictions are not falling like dominoes after all.

San Diego County's system of issuing permits for carrying concealed weapons does not violate gun owners' constitutional rights, despite recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions protecting the right to keep guns at home, a judge has ruled. 

U.S. District Judge Irma Gonzalez ruled against gun owners and a gun ownership group who had sued the county, arguing its permitting standards were invalidated by the two recent high court decisions.
 

Gonzalez said in her 17-page ruling, handed down Friday, that the county's permit system helps satisfy its legitimate goal of promoting public safety and reducing the rate of gun crime.

Under the county's permitting process, applicants seeking concealed weapons permits must prove that they are more likely than members of the general public to be placed in harm's way.
The battle wages on. What do you think?

Please leave a comment.

Honeybee Killer Dead

The Huffington Post reports on the final chapter of a strange story from October, a case in which they originally arrested the wrong guy.

In October, a disheveled gunman fatally shot a man and wounded two others in rural parts of Illinois and Indiana.
The assailant approached his victims with strange questions, asking one man about honeybees and another about construction material, then pulled out a gun. He came to be known as the "honeybee killer." 

Now, authorities believe the man responsible for the shootings was killed during a robbery in an Orland Park tanning salon over the weekend.
The best part of this story though, is the fact that it's another one of those super DGUs.

On Saturday, an armed robber walked into L.A. Tan and tied up a female employee at gunpoint. Before he made off with any loot, however, a customer walked into the salon.

Customer Jason McDaniel immediately tried negotiating with the gunman. He offered him $600 in cash and told him he was a new father. 

"I don't care about any of that (bleep)," the gunman replied, ordering McDaniel to get behind the counter. 

McDaniel was able to grab the gun from the robber, and during the struggle, shot him twice. The gunman, later identified as 48-year-old Gary Amaya, died an hour later.
Now that's a real hero, that McDaniel. Anyone can carry a gun around all the time and shoot bad guys whenever they act up, but it takes a real man to take the gun off one of them and blast him with it.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

I Loved the 80s Too

Dedicated to japete and Minnesotastan and all our other friends from MN.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Amazing Shooting Video

via TTAG accompanied with a witty Farago remark about Darwinism.

Gun-lover Silverware


The other day BantheNRA remarked, "I'm just surprised gun nuts don't use guns to feed each other."

Chicago's Anything-but-onerous Gun Laws

The Chicago Tribune described the process for obtaining a gun permit.  Honestly, who could call it onerous?

After applying for a state firearm owner's identification card in June, he waited a month to receive it. He next spent several weeks looking for a certified instructor and a range where he could take the mandated firearms training course. He settled on a Dundee range about 35 miles from his home, but he waited several more weeks for an open class. Finally, after shelling out $100, he received his gun permit in September.
He had to travel a whole 35 miles to reach the gun range? Many people travel more than that to go to and from work each day.

He had to shell out a whole $100? And the entire process took a whole 3 months?

Don't you think the gun owners ought to get off that oppressed minority schtick?  I do.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

The Hit Parade

The Washington Post has published a list of gun dealers with the most traces. Here's a little background on one of them, Don's Guns and Galleries in Indianapolis.

In October 2004, Don's sold six handguns to a Chicago gang member and his straw buyer while both were in the store. The gang member selected five Hi-Point pistols and an AK-47-type rifle, but the straw buyer filled out the paperwork and paid for the guns in cash, according to court records.

Four of the handguns were later recovered by Chicago police. The straw purchaser was sentenced to three months in prison and three years' supervised release, and the gang member received two years in prison.

Davis said he and his employees have blocked many suspicious sales.
Of course they all claim it's due to their high volume that they have so many guns traced back to them. But what about other high-volume outlets? How come they don't reach these numbers?

The answer is obvious to anyone with an open and honest mind.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Zappadan 2010 - Day 10

Georgia NRA Parties Hard

Sooo...District 5 Commissioner Kevin Jackson  of Georgia--a bigtime NRA member and gunloon--apparently likes to party hard:

Authorities say Cullie Mitchell Denny, 21, was dumped in the woods by Sibley after he shot him in the head with a .45 caliber handgun. The shooting occurred at a party thrown by District 5 Commissioner Kevin Jackson's son at the family's home in Whitesburg. Jackson was out of town at the time.

Monday, December 13, 2010

The Gun Control Network

Gun Control Network has a fascinating take on what I would call one of the most legitimate DGU stories I've ever heard. After viewing the video in which the 80-year-old John Wayne fan describes how he shot his attacker after being badly cut himself, the author of Gun Control Network has this to say:

The story above is just one example of how gun lovers in the US have corrupted the elderly and those who are most vulnerable to respond with violence.
Now that's pretty hard core, but I think I know what they mean. Being less fanatical myself, I have no problem accepting legitimate defensive uses of a gun, but what I believe is, overall they do more harm than good. On the whole, guns like this little .22 in the hands of civilians will be misused far more often than they'll be used to save the day.

I think this is what's meant by "corrupting the elderly," convincing vulnerable people that they'll be better off with guns, when that's just not the case.

What's your opinion?

Shooting in Deleware Trailer Park

Just another ex-boyfriend gone berserk.
A 48-year-old Georgetown man surrendered early Saturday after shooting another man and barricading himself in his home, state police said.

The incident began about 2:45 a.m. when George W. Bradford of the 20000 block of Rodney Street went to the 47-year-old victim's home, also in the 20000 block of Rodney Street in the Homestead Mobile Home Park, said police Master Cpl. Jeffrey Hale.

Bradford intended to confront the victim about a 45-year-old woman, who was in the victim's home, Hale said.
By all means, let's make it easier for folks to get guns. Let's drop some of the terribly onerous restrictions. That way we can have more and more of these incidents.

Please leave a comment.

Justice Breyer on the 2nd Amendment

via Fat White Man who said the Justice of the Supreme Court is "Constitutionally retarded."


Madison "was worried about opponents who would think Congress would call up state militias and nationalize them. 'That can't happen,' said Madison," said Breyer, adding that historians characterize Madison's priority as, "I've got to get this document ratified."

Therefore, Madison included the Second Amendment to appease the states, Breyer said.

"If you're interested in history, and in this one history was important, then I think you do have to pay attention to the story," Breyer said. "If that was his motive historically, the dissenters were right. And I think more of the historians were with us."

That being the case, and particularly since the Founding Fathers did not foresee how modern day would change individual behavior, government bodies can impose regulations on guns, Breyer concluded.
It is the epitome of arrogance to call a Supreme Court Justice, a man who's spent his entire life studying the law, "Constitutionally retarded." Besides we all know the retarded one is Scalia, not Breyer

What's your opinion? Aside from the fascinating epithet used by FWM, does the description of Breyer amount to "rewriting history?"

Please leave a comment..

Keith Richards and the Xpensive Winos

How to Cook Bacon

Since FWM is eating bacon at 9PM at night???  As a public service, I offer the following article on the best way to cook bacon.

Be sure to read the comments, there are some good suggestions.  I endorse using a grill rack and dredging the bacon in flour, specifically fine cornmeal.

Of course, always being correct (it's a gift, y'know), I usually eat turkey bacon.

NRA Assists Mexican Drug Cartels

Once again, WaPo accidentally commits journalism:
No other state has produced more guns seized by police in the brutal Mexican drug wars than Texas. In the Lone Star State, no other city has more guns linked to Mexican crime scenes than Houston. And in the Texas oil town, no single independent dealer stands out more for selling guns traced from south of the border than Bill Carter
U.S. gun dealers with the most firearms traced over the past four years

A decade ago, politicians and the press routinely reported on gun stores across the nation that had the most traces for firearms recovered by police. In 2003, under pressure from the gun lobby, Congress passed a law that hid from public view the government database that contained the gun tracing information.


Sunday, December 12, 2010

No Gun Ranges in Chicago

Say Anything published an interesting article about the onerous gun laws in Chicago.  The amazing part is how universally accepted this transparent twisting is among pro-gun folks.

The city’s ban on handguns was struck down by the Supreme Court in McDonald vs. Chicago, but the city has a policy requiring that registered gun owners get gun training including instruction at a gun range while simultaneously banning gun ranges within city limits.

How do you get gun training at a facility the city outlaws? That doesn’t matter. You’re not really supposed to own a gun.
Doesn't "within city limits" mean there are places outside of the city where the happy gun owner can get the necessary training? Is that so "onerous?"

Why do gun rights fanatics find it necessary to exaggerate like this? Isn't the reality of the situation enough for them to complain about? Do these people have no moral sense of honesty?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

The Latest in Home Defense - Mach 7 Gun

Cnet has the story.  I thought this would be perfect for our friends in Pennsylvania when they get their new Castle Doctrine enhancement, you know after the lame duck governor is out.

Super DGU Instructions

Robert Farago posted this wonderful video which clearly teaches how to accomplish one of those super DGUs, the ones in which you take the gun from the bad guy and use it on him.  These probably only happen about a million times a year.  We should ask John Lott the expert.

John Lott - Obama Hater

via John Lott's Website:

Referring to the remarks made by the President the other day, Mr. Lott named a post, "Obama's whopper of a claim at the press conference on Tuesday." Lott graciously provided links to the speech as well as a list of broken promises.

What I thought is Obama's speech-writers carefully worded the comment in such a way that it could not be called a lie or a "whopper." What do you think?

There is not a single thing that I said I would do that I have not done or tried to do.
I've made no secret of the fact that I no longer support President Obama. Escalation of the war in Afghanistan was the last straw, but this tax deal really solidified my cynicism. Yet, I find John Lott's response, like so many long-standing Obama-haters, to be more a reflection of his own bias and prejudice than the President's failure. Ignoring the "or tried to do," part of the statement and arguing instead that he did not keep all his promises, is intellectually dishonest.

What's your opinion? By the way, isn't it odd that the books John Lott wrote are all about guns and the blog is all about politics?

Please leave a comment.

A DGU with a Twist

I guess anything can happen.

Killed in the incident about 12:05 a.m. was Dwain Heath Jr., 17, of Munhall.

The woman told detectives she had gone to a convenience store within a few blocks of her home and made a purchase. As she was walking in an alley in the rear of the 800 block of Ravine Street, Mr. Heath approached her, brandished a gun and demanded money.

She turned over all she had, which was just change, as well as a personal item.

The woman then fought with the man, disarmed him and shot him. Then, she called 911 and waited for police to arrive.
Maybe this can be a new criterion for DGUs, unarmed people taking the gun from the bad guy and turning the tables on him. I'll bet John Lott, who runs one of the best anti-Obama blogs around, could still come up with a million or so.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Evil Con Artist - Glenn Beck