Saturday, January 8, 2011

Sarah Palin, Gun Fetishism

Via Ashley Miller:

Rep. Giffords Threatened Before

Via TPM:

Suspect in AZ Shooting Identified

Suspect is identified as either Jared Laughner or Jared Loughner or Jared Lee Loughner. 

His MySpace site has been taken down but here are a few photos and a YouTube:



Federal Judge Shot and Killed

In the same incident as the Rep. Giffords shooting.
A federal judge was killed in the same incident in which Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot on Saturday morning.

US Congresswoman Shot

AZ Representative Gabrielle Giffords Critically Wounded:
According to a local news report, Giffords was shot in the head at point-blank range. She was taken to University Medical Center in Tucson, but was reported to have been responsive immediately after the shooting. A hospital spokesperson said that nine people had arrived and that all were in critical or serious condition, including a child.

Positive thoughts to Rep. Giffords and the families of those wounded and killed.

In Case of Home Invasion, Would a Gun Help?

From the wonderful blog of Greg Laden, a man after my own heart.

Statistics and various studies show that yes, it might, but they also show that having a gun in the home is also potentially very dangerous, so the net aggregate outcome (and economists have strong armed us into thinking that net aggregate outcomes are the only criteria that are acceptable, bless their pointy heads) of having a gun in the home is that someone in your home is more likely to be shot and possibly killed than that the gun will be used to thwart a home invasion.
What's your opinion? Don't the same guys who say that home invasion is so likely that they need a gun, also say most gun violence is gang related? When we say there are too many legitimate gun owners doing bad things, they say it's not true, that most gun violence is drug and gang related. When we say you don't need a gun in the home,they say oh yes, the chances of home invasion by armed madmen is too high.

Sometimes I think the pro-gun guys just say anything they want. What do you think?

Please leave a comment.

Concealed Carry and Open Carry at U of U

The poor beleaguered gun owners on the University of Utah campus are not satisfied with being allowed to concealed carry, they want more. What is wrong with these people?

Gun Registry in South Africa

This is a fascinating report about the fact that antique guns must now be registered as well.

The amendment will force muzzle-loading firearm owners, who include hunters and collectors, to register their weapons within the next year. 

Failure to do so could see such gun owners being sentenced to up to 15 years in jail for illegal possession of a firearm. 

Come Monday, muzzle-loading firearm owners - as opposed to the past - will also have to apply for a competency certificate to keep their weapons. The certificate will be valid for 10 years.
Is this a preliminary exercise to gun confiscation? That's what the pro-gun crowd always says isn't it? One year from now, if no such confiscation sweeps take place, may I call those who always say that paranoid?

My opinion is this, the fifteen years for non-compliance is a bit severe, but otherwise it sounds just about right.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Officer Anthony Avery Cleared

He shot the kid in the back. But, in Philadelphia, that's just the way it goes.

Anthony Avery, a narcotics officer, fired two shots into the back of Timothy Jerome "Tee" Goode, 24, on Jan. 11, 2008, in Germantown. Police say Goode turned and pointed a 9mm handgun at undercover narcotics officers while fleeing a drug sting.
What do you think? Cops have a hard job, right. Crack dealers are worthless anyway. So where's the problem?

Please leave a comment.

The Greatest Spin Doctor Ever - Glenn Beck



I agree with the "cowardice" part. But what I love best is the double standard. The completely anachronistic 2nd Amendment is referred to as if it were the voice of God Himself, while the 3rd Amendment and the 3/5ths Compromise are avoided, or actually eliminated as in this case.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

The Conservative Brain

via Mike Licht via Salon.

Specifically, the research shows that people with conservative tendencies have a larger amygdala and a smaller anterior cingulate than other people. The amygdala -- typically thought of as the "primitive brain" -- is responsible for reflexive impulses, like fear. The anterior cingulate is thought to be responsible for courage and optimism. This one-two punch could be responsible for many of the anecdotal claims that conservatives "think differently" from others.
I know some guys who are all amydgala. I'll bet you know of whom I speak.

Please leave a comment.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Explaining the Tea Partiers


“Every morning when they see the president they’re reminded that things are totally different than when they were born. I think it’s the last gasp of the 55-year-old generation, not the first gasp of a new generation. It’s a group of older folks who’ve seen their lives change dramatically. The country’s not the same. All of a sudden it’s here for them and they don’t know what to do. They can get this younger generation, but they can’t get it on the backs of gays and immigrants, because many of their friends are gays and immigrants.” – Howard Dean, in Roll Call, explaining the Tea Party

Guns in Parks in Palm Beach FL

Frank Cerbino wrote a wonderful article for the Palm Beach Post about the law which goes into effect next week. Via The Truth About Guns, where the comments were just so predictable.

New next week: Guns in Palm Beach County's public parks.
Thank you, NRA.

The gun rights group has been after Palm Beach County to comply with a 23-year-old state law that allows concealed weapons permit holders to bring their guns into public parks, playgrounds and swimming pools.

And why not? The NRA paid good money to buy its wholly owned subsidiary, better known as the Florida Legislature. And Palm Beach County's elected officials had the nerve to imagine that they knew what was better for its citizens than a national gun lobby.

You don't mess with the NRA in Florida.

So, it's no wonder that on Jan. 11, Palm Beach County commissioners will cave in to the insanity when they formally end the ban on guns in parks.
Frank describes very well the difficulty in sorting out the varying statistics. Everyone can find something to like there. So, he appeals to common sense, something mocked and ridiculed by the pro-gun voices, for obvious reasons.
But I say put aside all the numbers for a moment, and just look at the people around you.

Do you really think we'd be better off if all of us law-abiding citizens went about our business in public with guns at our sides?

Think of all the anger-management-challenged drivers you've encountered on I-95. Think of all the vile, racist comments that blossom in the commentary section under online local news stories.

Think of all the self-deputized patriots who've confused a virulent strain of bigotry with heroism.

Now put them at the picnic table next to you in the park. And give them guns.
What's your opinion? Do you think Frank's on to something appealing to common sense in cases where the statistics are inconclusive or conflicting?
 
Please leave a comment.

Iron Man II - A Metaphor

Part of the story in this wonderful film is that Tony Stark believes he's built a "weapon" so advanced and powerful that world peace will result. The problem is the bad guys already have the technology, so rather than world peace we get an escalation of hostilities. In the movie, the good guys prevail in the end, but that won't last.

It's an apt metaphor for our times, don't you think, from the warring nations and their billion-dollar stealth bombers, to the armed citizen who feel he needs a bit more than a handgun to defend his home.

Horrible Murder Suicide in Nebraska


A student opened fire at Millard South High School in Omaha on Wednesday, killing one person, wounding another and causing students to take cover, the authorities said. No motive was apparent for the shooting of the principal, Curtis Case, and the vice principal, Vicki Kasper, who later died. After the shootings the student, Robert Butler Jr., 17, was found dead in a car about a mile away from the school after shooting himself, said the Omaha police chief, Alex Hayes. Mr. Butler is the son of an Omaha police detective.
I know the "individual responsibility" crowd won't like it, but I'd like to know more about daddy the cop. Was this kid one of the lucky ones who grew up with guns and had them "demystified." Where did a teenager in Nebraska get a gun anyway and where did he learn this extreme behaviour?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Boston Murders Up - Blame Georgia

On someone else's blog that post title might be facetious, but here I assure you it is not. Of course it's not just Geoergia that we blame.

The guns were bought, law enforcement officials say, over a two-month period in 2009 by two men whose criminal records prevented them from making the purchases personally; instead, they paid “straws,” in this case two women, to buy the weapons for them. According to a federal indictment handed down last month in Atlanta, the transactions took place without a hitch, and within weeks the guns were wreaking havoc on the streets of Boston.
Now, I had a solution for that. Why is no one listening? Maybe they're not listening YET.

Here's the best part of the article, though.  It seems Boston is now on board with the other major cities where gun crime is way up. What in the hell is it with these pro-gun guys who keep telling us it's going down?


Despite increased manpower, despite resources targeted at illegal gun trafficking, and despite such proven results as the annual seizure of about 600 weapons and the jailing of more than 100 persons a year in Boston for illegal possession and/or trafficking in guns, the grimmest reality remains: Gun violence in the city of Boston is edging up; 264 people were killed or wounded by gunfire in the city in 2010, a 17 percent increase over 2009. Murder by gunfire went up even more, from 35 in 2009 to 58 last year, an increase of some 60 percent.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Concealed Carry Permits in Florida

I thought they practically give those permits away in states like Florida. I figured just about anybody could get one.  Now I know I was right.

Excerpt from an e-mail I received from a friend in Florida who has the misguided idea that a CCW permit is what he needs.  He must be reading the wrong blogs.

On Wednesday evening I took a gun safety class as part of the process to get a CCW permit in Florida. There were about 25 people who took the class with about five women, including two early 20 something girls.

The classroom part of the course spent about 30 minutes going through a 40 page booklet the Florida Dept of Agriculture and Consumer Services Division of Licensing puts out.  I received the booklet a month ago when I requested a copy through the Internet. Most of the time in the classroom covered where you can carry the firearm and that it has to be fully concealed.

During the classroom session, the NRA certified instructor said that in order for a firearm to be effective, it has to be able to be drawn and used within 2.5 seconds. Of course, then you have the issue or when you can use deadly force and most times if you a chance to flee or avoid the situation than you cannot legally use the fire arm. The instructor gave a scenario of someone breaking into your car in the parking lot and you going out to confront them with the gun. That would be a no no. Call 9-11 and stay in your home. Only if someone is involved in a forcible felony can you legally expose or use the weapon.

Other interesting facts he gave in the classroom lesson was that according to Florida Dept of Crime statistics the effective range for a handgun is 6.3 feet. About the length of a car hood. Makes sense when you consider all the traffic stops cops do and the amount of armed criminals. The instructor also quoted a FBI statistic that most hand guns are used when the target is 5. 3 feet. With these distances, the students taking the firearm safety class had to shoot at a target that was posted at 6 feet. The firearm was a .22 revolver. 30 rounds were shot and you had to shot at least 70 percent in the middle ring of the target.

Thought u might like to hear about the CCW permit process here in Florida.
What's your opinion? Is that adequate preparation for someone to legally carry a gun in public?

Please leave a comment.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

The Funniest Gun Blogger on the Internet

No, it's not Linoge, and it's not Joe Huffman.  It's Sean Sorrentino.

Here's a link to an amazing post he made a couple months ago. It's an e-mail exchange we had, a private e-mail exchange between the two of us which he posted without my permission.  I'm seriously considering suing his ass, except, and here's the amazing part, it makes him look so bad.

Please read it through and tell me if you agree.

The Irrepressible and Immortal Speaker of Truth

Just for fun, but with several good messages.

I'm Shocked!

via Driftglass and dedicated to Robert Farago

Boston's First Homicide of the Year

Boston.com reports that an argument in a clothing store resulted in a shooting. No big deal. It happens every day, somewhere. Usually the shooter is a prohibited person who shouldn't have had a gun in the first place. No laws can stop that, they say.

That's where I disagree. All guns start out as the legally owned property of some gun owner of FFL gun dealer and somehow end up in criminal hands. Laws aimed at those legitimate gun owners can definitely prevent some of these incidents. If gun owners are so legitimate, why don't they cooperate more with attempts at prevention?

Yesterday’s shooting is the first homicide of the year for the Boston Police Department, which saw a nearly 50 percent increase in homicides last year. More than 70 people were killed in 2010, which started with a deadly shooting and a separate stabbing incident on New Year’s Day. Most of last year’s homicides involved a firearm, Boston police statistics show.
It's interesting that Boston joins a number of other major cities who've suffered a terrible increase in gun violence last year. Even more interesting is how the gun rights extremists try to spin that one around.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

I Like That Senator Gillibrand

Kirsten Gillibrand
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Climate Change for the Righties

Laci posted this one.

Kerry Emanuel is a highly regarded professor of atmospheric science at MIT. Based on his work on hurricanes and the research of his peers, Emanuel has concluded that the scientific data show a powerful link between greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. He also sees himself as a conservative. He believes marriage is between a man and a woman. He backs a strong military. He almost always votes Republican and admires Ronald Reagan.
It's odd isn't it? Most of these guys are of the lefty variety. Why do you think that is?

Please leave a comment.

Pornography with a Great Soundtrack

Il Principe asked if anyone can name the band. I can't, but I like 'em..

Robert Farago, in comments:
I will not "admit" something which is not true. I am a gun blogger. I am not racist. I am not a misogynist. I am not a homophobe. None of the people I know in the "gunloon" world are any of these things. To suggest that gun bloggers are prejudiced as a group indicates prejudice. This childish name-calling also highlights the poverty of your arguments. I am disappointed. I thought I had two worthy opponents.
In another galaxy, far, far away....
But to answer your question, these Jewish orgs are utopians. Same affliction that led so many Jews to become communists and fellow travelers.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Dan Baum on the 2nd Amendment

Mr. Baum wrote a wonderful article last summer. In part it reads:

It’s a mystery to me why the gun-control community has allowed their opponents to walk off with the Second Amendment. If the amendment guarantees an individual right to own a gun, it also confers a right to regulate gun ownership. It’s right the text: “...a well-regulated militia....” Even accepting the gun enthusiasts’ definition of the militia as the broad community of armed citizens, it seems clear that the Second Amendment not only allows but requires regulation. Put another way, Sarah Brady has Second Amendment rights too: the right to have the militia -- the community of armed citizens -- well regulated. Why is she -- and the rest of the country that wants tighter restrictions on guns -- not making a Second Amendment case?

And one of the comments, in part:

Actually none of you are technically right. The most important word in the 2A is not "well-regulated" nor "militia" nor "the people" nor any of the others until you get to the last one -- "infringed."

The word "infringe," as any good English teacher should be able to tell you, means to abolish or cancel. The correct usage is not that one "infringes upon" something -- one "infringes" something. Look it up in the oldest American dictionary you will find, Websters 1828 (hint: it's online). The word came into our language from the French, "infrangere," meaning "to break." The meaning was not at that time the same as "abridged," as much as many gun owners today would wish it so.

In the last 200 years we have seen the word change meanings somewhat and now it has come to be synonymous with words like "impinge," or to mean to restrict, trespass upon, or limit. Sorry folks, that's not its classical meaning. To paraphrase, "...the right of the people shall not be abolished or cancelled." That's how the founders would have understood it and what they thought they were writing.
Fascinating, isn't it? Did you know that the word really means "to break" and not to weaken or diminish?

Please leave a comment.

Baltimore's Good News

My opinion is that gun availability plays a major part in the number of crimes that take place.  If gun availability goes up and crime goes down, that simply means that it would have gone down much more had the gun factor decreased.

Although Baltimore can certainly rejoice in these numbers,  2011 is off to a bad start with three murders in the first three days.

Mayor Rawlings-Blake and Commissioner Bealefeld detailed significant and sustained crime reduction achieved in 2010, including:
  • Homicide is down 6%. In 2010, Baltimore recorded the lowest homicide count since 1985, a 25-year low. There were 223 homicides in 2010, 15 fewer than in 2009.
  • Gun homicide is down 13%. In 2009, 196 homicides were committed with a gun. In 2010, there were 171 gun homicides, a 13% decrease. Since 2005, 82% of homicides have been gun related. In 2010, 77% were gun related.
  • Juvenile homicides and shootings are down 35%. Juvenile homicides are down 25% compared to 2009 - a 57% decrease compared with 2006. Juvenile shootings are down 38% compared to 2009 - a 66% decrease compared with 2007.
  • Non Fatal Shootings are down 7%. In 2010, Baltimore recorded 420 shootings, 31 fewer than in 2009 and a 42% decrease compared to the 2000 total.
  • Overall Gun Crime is down 16% from 2009 – 498 less victims of gun crime.
  • Violent crime is down 4% in 2010, a 40% decrease compared to the 2000 total.
  • Property crime is down 3% in 2010, a 43% decrease compared to the 2000 total.
  • Total crime (Part I) is down 3% in 2010, a 42% decrease compared to the 2000 total.
  • Between 1999 and 2009, Baltimore had the greatest drop in overall crime and property crime of the 20 most populous cities.

Indiana Peregrine Falcon Shot

Who could have done something like this? Let's see, the drug dealers who are responsible for so much gun violence?  No.  How about the gangs, you know those inner city gangbangers?  No. I know, it must have been a hunter who mistook the falcon for a duck. No, that couldn't be either.

I suppose the guy who did this is just one of your regular gun owners, one who feels the rules are silly and as long as he doesn't get caught he'll continue to be a "lawful gun owner."

What do you think? Wouldn't the same kind of guy who shoots up road signs perhaps do something like this? It's only a bird, after all, and bad laws be damned anyway. Right?

Please leave a comment.

Missouri 12-Year-Old Kills Parents

In the Show-Me State they're so big on "individual responsibility" that they're actually talking about charging this boy as an adult.

Ohio 10-Year-Old Kills Mother

Naturally, the "individual responsibility" crowd is happy to put all the focus on the boy and none on the gun. I'd like to know who in the hell allowed a 10-year-old access to a rifle. Maybe whoever it was has been reading the gun blogs where the keep talking about "demystifying" the gun, and "Eddie Eagle techniques."

Jon Stewart - Satire and Information

Barack Obama Is Luke Skywalker
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Gunloons and the Pretense of Diversity

Suppose I claim to be a big supporter of Israel. Let's suppose I champion Jewish organizations and causes such as B'nai B'rith and Hadassah and AIPAC.  Sounds like I'm pretty pro-Israel, right?

But what if I quote folks like David Duke or StormFront approvingly?

Now, I'd say there's quite a big disconnect there--that I'm probably either quite confused or I'm probably trying to pull the wool over someone's eyes.

As I sagely noted, previously, gunloons like to pretend they're something more than fat, white, middle-aged males. They do this by pretending they support diversity.  Of course, the reality is something very different.

Consider Joe Huffman.  At every opportunity,Huffman will tell his fellow gunloons that he's a big supporter of Pink Pistols--a group of supposed gay gunloons (of course, Pink Pistols is about as big as Gay Black Republicans).  Anyway, Huffman is a big, big fan of Clayton Cramer and frequently quotes him approvingly on his blog.  Seems Cramer, a gunloon, has a big problem with homosexuals. Actually, I'm being somewhat understated. Cramer frequently accuses gays of having sex with animals and children and often recount, in prurient detail, how gays might have sex; neglecting, of course, the fact heterosexuals often engage in the same activities. Further, you back up your goofiness with the kind of ‘research’ that would make a Nazi eugenicist embarrassed.

But Huffman thinks the guy is just swell.

Women and Gay Gunloons Played for Chumps

Gunloons, like the GOP, like to pretend they're far more diverse than they are.  That's when the gunloons find the rara avis that is a gay or woman gunloon, they publicize the gunloon far and wide.

Well, female and gay gunloons, the gunloon's favorite gunloon Supreme Court Justice, Fat Tony Scalia says the Bill of Rights doesn't protect women or gays from discrimination.

Certainly the Constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn't. Nobody ever thought that that's what it meant. Nobody ever voted for that. If the current society wants to outlaw discrimination by sex, hey we have things called legislatures, and they enact things called laws. You don't need a constitution to keep things up-to-date. All you need is a legislature and a ballot box.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Virginia is for Gunloons

Virginia, home of the international terrorist organization NRA, objects to funny license plate.

Efraim Diveroli Goes to Jail

TPM has the report on the boy genius.

Miami gun runner Efraim Diveroli was sentenced yesterday to four years in prison for trying to ship millions of rounds of Chinese-made ammunition to forces in Afghanistan fighting alongside U.S. troops, the Associated Press reported.

Diveroli said the "good times" he enjoyed due to the sudden wealth brought on by the $300 million contract wasn't worth it. "No way it could ever be worth the suffering I have endured and my family has endured because of my actions," he said.

"To participate in such a fraud when people are putting their lives on the line, that makes it so much sadder. For money," U.S. District Judge Joan said in sentencing Diveroli. "Mr. Diveroli may have been clever, but not wise."
On the way to prison, it's easy to be repentent. But what about this?

"Once a gun runner, always a gun runner," Diveroli told an agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) before he was arrested and charged with possession of firearms as a convicted felon and with possession of firearms while under indictment for a felony offense back in August. 

Sentencing in the gun possession case is scheduled for Jan. 25, where Diveroli could get up to an additional 10 years in prison.
Sounds to me like he's one of those gun guys who think they're above the law, you know the "bad laws be damned" type.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

DGU or Something Else

In Oklahoma, like many places, you can pretty much shoot whom you want if they're in or around your house.  They don't need to be necessarily threatening your life, it's enough that you say they were trying to break in.

A homeowner in Owasso shot a burglar this morning who was trying to break in to his house.

21-year-old Cody Hurst was shot twice by the homeowner and was taken to a local hospital.

Police are not releasing any other details yet about exactly what happened. The case will be submitted to the Tulsa County D.A.'s office for review and possible charges.
Sometimes what's described as an "attempted burglary" is really a drunk kid stumbling around just looking for the right house. I'm sure the charges mentioned in the article are not attempted murder on the part of the homeowner. What do you think?

Of course, John Lott thought it was a good one.  He would have to, how else could he reach 2.5 million a year.

Yee-Haw

Fighting off heavily armed home invaders to courageously save the family is not the only kind of fantasy the gun guys like.


And it had to be Florida, didn't it?

What do you think?

No Gun Control

A post on the News Star, I believe, was written in all seriousness.  The comments are a riot too.

Gun control has never stopped bad guys from getting guns and shooting up public areas. In order to stop this unconstitutionality, we need to repeal "gun-free" school zones, the D.C. gun ban, the Lautenberg misdemeanor gun ban, waiting periods on purchasing handguns, and others. It is sad that our two-party government has divided us and completely ignored our constitutional rights.

The Second Amendment is not about hunting, nor owning any type of firearm. It is about protecting an individual right to keep and bear arms from generation to generations to come.  

It is time to repeal gun control at the state, national and local levels. 

What's your opinion?  Do you agree with the first commenter who said we should repeal the law of gravity while we're at it?

Please leave a comment.

Guns in Nightclubs

In cases like these, we've generally got law breakers carrying guns and shooting up the joint. California already has pretty strict gun laws. So what's the answer?

The gun crowd wantsfewer gun laws, many say they want no laws at all. Certainly restrictions on where lawful gun owners can carry their guns have to go.

Do they honestly believe that would improve the situation? I don't.

The gun control crowd wants ever stricter gun control. The idea being, since we all agree criminals ignore the rules, we need to constrain the lawful gun owners to stop feeding the gun flow into the criminal world. This would have an indirect but beneficial affect.

In addition, laws restricting where gun owners can carry their weapons will minimize those not-infrequent incidents in which one of them goes bad.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Why Statistics are Bad News for the Gun Rights Team

It works like this. Whenever a pro-gun guy offers statistics which supposedly show that John Lott was right, you know the old more-guns-equals-less-crime idea, he is in violation of the correlation / causation rule. In other words, assuming the stats in question are accurate, there are other factors involved. Sometimes crime goes down IN SPITE of the guns.

On the other hand, when the gun control folks point out that gun crime went up as gun ownership increased, there is a guaranteed causation factor built in. All gun crime, by definition, includes the use of a gun. Gun availability is ALWAYS a factor.

Does that make sense to you? Please leave a comment.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Murder Suicide in Georgia and North Carolina

The wife was killed in North Carolina, the guy killed himself in Georgia.
Authorities said a man sought for killing his estranged wife in Cherokee, N.C., turned a gun on himself in Whitfield County, Ga.

The Whitfield County Sheriff's Department said it was learned that 42-year-old John Fred Stanley was staying with an acquaintance near Dalton.

Officers followed Stanley across a field into some woods. As officers closed in, he turned a .38 caliber handgun on himself and shot himself in the head.

He was airlifted to Erlanger Hospital, but was pronounced dead.

Authorities said the sister of the estranged wife was dropping her off at work when Stanley pulled up and began firing at her.
Guns are bad news for women everywhere, but do you think it's worse in places like this. Dalton,Georgia is near the borders of Alabama and Tennessee. I'll bet they don't have the best education system in the country. Does that contribute, do you think?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

New York's Safe Storage Laws

I didn't realize that New York, which is continually denigrated by the gun crowd as too strict on gun control, has no safe storage laws. I guess we can count that as another exaggeration on the part of the gun folks.

The Saratogian has an interesting article about this subject, one which includes both sides of the argument. Here's the final paragraph, a quote from Capt. Michael Chowske of the Saratoga Springs Police Department.

“If you are going to spend three, four or $500 on a handgun, spending $50 on a locking box is not a big deal,” he said. He pointed out there is no law requiring people to do it, but he said “as a police officer, a father and a grandfather, it is my opinion that they should be locked up.”

What do you think "they" refers to in the final sentence?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Criminals Just Don't Obey the Laws

In Lowell, MA there was a terrible shooting on New Year's Eve. Since criminals just won't obey the rules, I think we need to ask who was the last legal owner of the gun. That's the place where it goes wrong.

I suggest a three-pronged attack. 1. full licensing and registration and strict controls on new gun purchases. That would eliminate straw purchasing. And 2. background checks on every transfer. That would eliminate all those supposedly inadvertent private gun sales to criminals. And 3. enhanced and strictly enforced safe storage laws. This would cut down on theft.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Guns, Alcohol, Arizona

AZ CCW Without Permit Working Well
Good thing AZ has CCW without permit:
PHOENIX (AP) — A man accused of opening fire in a Phoenix strip club, killing two people and injuring three others, told police that he had planned the crime and chose the victims at random, according to a court document released Tuesday.







Gavin Macfarlane, 28, of Scottsdale, is accused of shooting four people with a .38-caliber revolver and physically attacking a fifth person at the Great Alaskan Bush Company shortly before midnight  Sunday. Patrons tackled and beat him after he ran out of ammunition.

Why Parents Shouldn't Allow Their Kids to Associate With Gunloons

Slumber party gone wrong:
KOAM-TV reports Megan was attending a slumber party with friends at a home near Neosho on Monday night. The sheriff says another teen picked up a .38-caliber handgun that had been left on a piano and pulled the trigger. The gun turned out to be loaded, and the shot struck Megan.

Parents should always ask if their friends parents own guns.

NRA Helping Reduce Law Enforcement

Police shooting fatalities increase 20 percent in 2010:
There also was a spike in shooting deaths. Fifty-nine federal, state and local officers were killed by gunfire in 2010, a 20 percent jump from last year's figures, when 49 were killed. The total does not include the death of a Georgia State Patrol trooper shot in the neck Monday night in Atlanta as he tried to make a traffic stop.
Note the UK, which the NRA claims makes Thunderdome seem like DisneyWorld, has had about a dozen police officers shot to death in the last 80 years.

"Accidental" Shooting - Cop on Cop

Austin already has enough problems, the last thing they need down there is this. I realize accidents can happen to anybody, nevertheless, this guy should surrender his weapon and work in the property shed from now on.


Chicago's Tough Gun Laws

I wish I had a nickel for all the times the pro-gun voices made sarcastic remarks about how the gun control laws in Chicago do not work.
This article, which outlines some increased sanctions for gun crimes, had this to say about Police Supt. Jody Weis' efforts to curtail New Year's Eve incidents.

Weis is intent on ensuring no new additions to Chicago’s homicide total — 431 as of Dec. 27 — which is on track to make 2010 the least murderous year in 45 years.
Do the pro-gun folks just say anything they want and keep repeating it till it sounds true? The fact is gun control works and more gun control works better.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Police Shooting in Hayward CA

I suppose those Northern California cops are trying to take the crown away from Philadelphia's finest.

This time the dead guy "brandished the knife."

I'm sure that'll work. What do you think?

San Jose Man Shoots First Asks Questions Later

The most amazing part of the story is that the homeowner is not in jail. The fact that he'll probably go on keeping guns in his home, for protection, is the tragedy.

San Jose police were investigating the circumstances of an incident early Friday morning in which a homeowner shot a 24-year-old man suspected of burglarizing his home.
The problem is there was no burglary in progress, there was only a drunk young man stumbling around the neighborhood.

In addition to saying he feared for his life the homeowner said he saw a gun in the hand of the guy. It turned out to be a cell phone.

This is a perfect illustration of why most people would be better off without a gun in the home.

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Springfield Ohio - 2 Dead

A shootout with police resulted in one dead shooter and one dead cop.

This took place in Ohio where the gun rights folks are still celebrating their latest victory. The direct connection between the laws they support and the guns which are in the possession of unfit people conveniently escapes them.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.