Saturday, May 5, 2012

The War Racket


Commenter Randolphus Maximus got it right: “The game is the same, it just got more fierce” Slim Charles from “The Wire”



The Heartland Institute Ad Campaign Against Climate Change

via The Huffington Post

The Heartland Institute is out with what is quite possibly its most ill-considered publicity stunt to date: a poster ad campaign comparing a belief in global warming to the psychology of mass murder.

The Chicago-based think tank notorious for denying the basic facts about global warming on Thursday launched billboards in Chicago featuring the likes of Ted Kaczynski (better known as the Unabomber) and convicted murderer and cult leader Charles Manson, saying these notorious criminals "still believe in global warming" and asking viewers if they do, too.
What do you think? Are these conservatives something or what?

The Cure for Cognitive Bias

from Steven Hart via Mind Hacks 

A fascinating study just published in Psychological Science has found that solving problems in a foreign language reduces cognitive biases.

Would you make the same decisions in a foreign language as you would in your native tongue? It may be intuitive that people would make the same choices regardless of the language they are using, or that the difficulty of using a foreign language would make decisions less systematic.

We discovered, however, that the opposite is true: Using a foreign language reduces decision-making biases. Four experiments show that the framing effect disappears when choices are presented in a foreign tongue. Whereas people were risk averse for gains and risk seeking for losses when choices were presented in their native tongue, they were not influenced by this framing manipulation in a foreign language.

Two additional experiments show that using a foreign language reduces loss aversion, increasing the acceptance of both hypothetical and real bets with positive expected value. We propose that these effects arise because a foreign language provides greater cognitive and emotional distance than a native tongue does.
This could probably work on gun-rights folks if enough of them knew second languages.

What do you think?

Adam "MCA" Yauch, Beastie Boys' Founder Dies

CBS Interviews Ted Nugent

Barry O'Connell, Police Officer and Dad of the Year

When we spoke about this one before, I said, "of course, no charges." I was right. The Seattle Times reports

Prosecutors say a Spokane police officer will not be charged for the accidental shooting in which his 10-year-old daughter wounded herself in the leg with his gun.

Barry O'Connell could have been charged with reckless endangerment, but Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Brian O'Brien says there's no evidence his actions were intentional.

KXLY reports ( http://is.gd/fVJ8hK) the 18-year veteran could still face department discipline for failing to secure his duty weapon.

The girl went into a bedroom on Easter Sunday to look out the window for Easter eggs when she found the gun and started playing with it.

It was the fourth child shooting this year in Washington state and the second involving a law enforcement officer's child.
It's absolutely unconscionable how they cover up for each other. The prosecutors aren't charging him because "there's no evidence his actions were intentional." But, what in the hell does that have to do with negligence? Isn't negligence always unintentional?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Kennebec Maine Man Shoots Himself - Suicide Suspected

Local news reports

Friday morning that a 29-year-old man died after shooting himself inside the apartment. The shooting was reported at 3:30 a.m. and other people were inside the apartment at the time.

The man died at the scene after attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.
I don't know why they didn't call it an accident? What was a guy like that doing with a gun anyway?

Please leave a comment.

The Deafening Silence

via The Huffington Post
where the author bemoans the fact that political leaders are practically silent on this grave problem.
The NRA's mantra, "Guns don't kill people. People kill people," is nonsense. People with access to guns kill people. The autobiography of charismatic educator Geoffrey Canada describes in vivid detail how things have changed. In fact, his brilliant title says it all: Fist Stick Knife Gun.

When I was a kid, we wrestled and maybe threw some punches when we were out of control mad. Today, we shoot someone.
What's your opinion? Has the NRA, which represents a minority of Americans, scared everyone silent? Could this turn around in Obama's second term?

Please leave a comment.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Lawful Gun Owner and Possible Concealed Carry Permit Holder Arrested for Gun Misuse

Local ABC reports

Police say there is no evidence there was an attempted robbery in progress when a convenience store clerk allegedly started shooting Monday evening - hitting a man in the leg.

Detectives said it appeared there was some kind of argument between the clerk and a customer that led to the gunfire.

The clerk - Alaael Ahmed El Hamalawi, 52, of Durham - was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and discharging a firearm in the city limits.
What's it sound like to you? Is this another one of those gun owners who act responsibly with their guns? You realize if there were no video surveillance this would have been another legitimate DGU.

Please leave a comment.

Domestic Shooting in CA - Federal ICE Agent Killed by his 14-Year-old Son

Local Fox News reports

A federal agent and Navy veteran was shot as he sat in his family room, killed by a bullet that came from outside through a window. Authorities say the bullet came from his own gun and it was fired by his 14-year-old son.

The boy called 911 to report the shooting of his father, Special Agent Myron Chisem, 42, a five-year veteran of U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said Thursday.
The son was later arrested and booked for investigation of murder. Neither the boy's name nor any possible motive was released.

"Evidence gained from the scene and statements made by the suspect" led to the arrest, sheriff's Lt. Holly Francisco said. The handgun used in the shooting belonged to Chisem and it was found in the front yard, she said.
Sad story. I wonder why they didn't call it an accident?

SWAT Secret Weapon - Not a Gun

Web Pro News reports

SWAT team members have one of the most dangerous jobs there is, and while they take every available precaution to be safe, sometimes it’s just not enough. Riot gear and bullet-proof faceplates are helpful, but in some situations, more is called for. 

That’s where their new secret weapon comes in: the Recon Scout. Small, lightweight, and durable, the Scout looks a bit like a dumbbell with wheels. It features a robotic camera in the middle, and can be thrown through a window or into a room to give SWAT members a better view of the situation before they go in.
I thought kicking down doors and putting yourself in the line of fire was what it's all about for SWAT team members. I'll bet some of them don't like this thing at all.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

$99 Xbox

Recommended by Anders Breivik

"Second Amendment" Vigilantes Protecting Their Own


By Josh Horwitz:

This morning, I posted a blog at the Huffington Post that looks at a horrifying incident in Georgia that somehow has escaped national attention.

On April 19, 2012, Jean and Angelica Kalonji were attempting to change the locks on a home their son had just purchased for them when they found themselves staring down the barrels of AR-15 assault rifles wielded by their neighbors, Robert and Brandon Canoles.

The Canoles suspected the Kalonjis of burglary and would not listen to them, instead holding them forcibly at gunpoint until sheriff's deputies arrived on the scene. When asked why he did this after the fact, Robert Canoles said, "This is my Second Amendment right. Look, this is the country out here, and we protect our own."

Apparently the Kalonjis—an interracial couple—weren't "his own."

It would be comforting to think this was an isolated incident. But as we know from the slaying of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, armed vigilantism is a phenomenon in contemporary America that is both real and incredibly dangerous.

Why are vigilantes who claim "Second Amendment" protections so corrosive to our democracy? Read my new blog, " 'Second Amendment' Vigilantes Systematically Dismantling Our Rights," to find out.

NRA Member JT Ready Stands His Ground Against 16 Month Old Toddler

Had NRA member JT Ready elected not to "stand his ground" against himself--he probably would have not been charged under Arizona's "Stand Your Ground" law.

He could always argue that the 16 month old toddler he shot was making "sudden moves."

The NRA would have established a defense fund for him.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

That about says it all…

or why I hate US elections and am happy that I have somewhat insulated myself from them:

Tea Party speaker, Mormon Neo-Nazi Candidate for Sheriff Apparent Shooter in Mass Murder / Suicide in Arizona

reposted from Penigma

Would this be a good time to point out the inherent problems with the lax gun laws of Arizona? I think so. I can't wait to learn his permit status, if any.

This creep could easily be the poster child for NRA gun nuts - the individuals who are obsessed with firearms, obsessed with finding someone to shoot, obsessed with threats lurking around every corner about to getcha (because you're so appealing/good looking/rich/ important/ sexy - if only in your own mind). That would be as distinct from the sane individuals who don't feel a need or desire to go armed everywhere, who aren't afraid of imminent home invasion, who don't wet themselves over improbable heroic fantasies involving their fetish objects, and who practice sound, sane gun safety for normal firearm activities like skeet shooting or hunting where a firearm is a tool in an activity, but not an essential fetish prop to a person's core identity.
J. T. Ready, who mostly personifies the National Rifle Association demographic of an old looking (he's white overweight angry guy with right to extreme right wing leanings, killed himself and four other people in Arizona. Ready was a speaker at Tea Party events, where he was embraced. Ready had also attempted to be part of Occupy events, where his participation was rejected because of his hateful and extremist views.
While many on the right have tried publicly to distance themselves from the anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic, and racist views of the white supremacists, the reality is that the right has courted and embraced them. They have been part of CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, where all four of the then running GOP presidential candidates spoke. Right wing bloggers are featured and presented with awards, including Pamela Geller who shares a number of views that she holds in common with right wing extremist mass murderer Anders Breivik in Norway, demonizing anyone who isn't white, and exclusively culturally western European. The right wing is concerned about keeping domination in the U.S. for white European-descended people, and desire to keep black, brown, and presumably Asian people in a subordinate relationship.
Here are just a few of the extensive Youtube video collection about the now-late TJ Ready. He and his colleagues are far more damning than I could be about them. For those of you who don't readily recognize him in some of these clips, recalled right wing majority leader Russell Pearce was a close buddy of Pearce, including having converted him to Mormonism, and then catapulted Ready right to an important status position in the church. For those not familiar with the acronym, ADL is the Anti-Defamation League.















I could point out these guys are ignorant extremist red-necked- red-state racist, bigoted assholes, but that would be redundant.
If this piques your curiosity, wikipedia has an entry on him. This is from that entry:
He also served as president of the Mesa Community College Republican Party Club and as a precinct committeeman for the Maricopa County Republicans. In 2006, he sought a seat on the city counsel for Mesa, Arizona. He put forth as his motto that "The Purity of the Aryan Race is the most precious resource Nature has to offer All of Humankind."[2]
As the Brits would say, Ready seems to have fancied himself a superior human being. I don't see that in any aspect of him. I would worry that might offend his surviving family and friends, but he appears to have shot them all.
I would not have thought this guy had anything whatsoever to do with a college edumacation; maybe he just presided over the college Republicans, but wasn't actually a student himself. We're talking Arizona after all. Republicans, Tea Partiers, Neo-Nazis; gun nuts all, they deserve each other, but the rest of us don't.

The Travesty of Gun Laws in Arizona

Kellie Mejdrich Arizona Sonora News Service

I’m a 22-year-old woman who has never touched a gun in her life, but obtaining a concealed weapons permit in Arizona took me little more than a lunch break and $100.

That’s contrary to what many legislators and officials have said about the CCW process this season, as they’ve debated several pieces of legislation attempting to allow guns into more and more public buildings.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Junior Seau Commits Suicide with a Gun

via boston.com

Junior Seau, a 43-year old 12-time NFL Pro Bowl linebacker, was found dead today in his home, the result of a gunshot wound, police confirmed. 

Police are investigating the shooting at the Oceanside, Calif., residence of the former New England Patriot and San Diego Chargers football star as a suicide. Police confirmed that Seau was found by his girlfriend at his beachfront home with a gunshot wound to his chest.
People who attempt suicide are often temporarily insane. The lethality of a gun makes it more likely that they'll succeed. It's sad.

 What do you think? Please leave a comment.

J.T. Ready Among 5 Dead in Arizona Shooting


Accidental Shooting of Oregon Teen - No Charges


The Argus Observer reports



16-year-old Andy Stroebel was looking at a handgun around 3:45 p.m. Sunday when it discharged and a bullet struck him in the neck.

As of this morning, Stroebel has undergone a second surgery on his neck.

Stroebel and an adult friend went shooting earlier in the day and were back at Stroebel’s house looking at his friends handgun. There were several unloaded guns in the house at the time, and the two had been cleaning them.

Stroebel’s friend left the area to get a movie, and the friend had taken the ammunition out of the gun, but at some point Stroebel put the ammunition back in.

Stroebel’s mother was in the other room at the time the shot was fired. Stroebel was taken via Air Ambulance to a Boise-area hospital and then was flown to a Portland-area hospital.
What's your opinion? Isn't it hard to believe that anyone with even a minimum of experience with guns could do something like this. Yet it happens every day.

Conclusion: Some people are unfit to handle guns safely.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

Jon Stewart on the Bin Laden Ads

Lionel Messi - The Greatest

GM is Alive - Bin Laden is Dead

via Southern Beale where you can see those famous and hilarious pictures of former-President Bush at his best.

Accidental Shooting of Tennessee Teen - Gun Owner Charged or Not ??

From Southern Beale via Ohh Shoot 

38-year-old Cynthia Ann Ward, of Collierville, Tennessee, gave her 17-year-old son a 9mm Luger handgun to "play with". She also wanted him to make sure the magazine was fully loaded for the next time she carried the gun, loaded and hidden, in public.

The boy took the magazine out of the gun and then began joking with his sister, pointing the gun at her. Not realizing there was still a bullet in the chamber, the boy pulled the trigger and shot his 14-year-old sister in the upper back.

The girl was taken to Regional Medical Center in Memphis where she remains in serious condition. The mother was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment.
First comment:

Anonymous: Umm, please correct your statements get them right before you post. I am very close with that family and the mother was never charged with anything& second the girl is 15 and he was never given the gun to 'play with' really?! Get your facts right before you blog or post about it. 

Now that seems more consistent with the stories we report on every day. After all, it was only an "accident."

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

"Gun Control" has Become a Dirty Word


 Gun "Control" is an anachronism. Look at the exact wording of the Pew question: "What do you think is more important -- to protect the right of Americans to own guns, or to control gun ownership?" This question uses the language of the gun lobby (rights), not the language of those working for stronger gun laws (safety). And it pits a right versus simply "control" for its own sake.

I don't assume nefarious motives on Pew's part. When this question was first written, "control" was indeed part of the gun debate vernacular. But it is no longer. Using the word "control" is a poor description of that side's position. (While the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence was once called Handgun Control, Inc., the group hasn't had` "control" in its name in over ten years.)

What if there was decades of tracking of something like "what do you think is more important -- to protect the rights of gun owners, or to protect the safety of everyone from gun violence?" Results would, to be sure, be different from the current question.
She makes an interesting point. The wording of surveys and polls needs to be changed to reflect the changed understanding of the word "control." To gun owners and many non-gun owners, the word has become synonymous with gun bans. Thanks to the gun-rights folks, the words "gun control" are associated with anti-rights and other un-American ideas that no one likes. This has been a planned and purposeful effort and it has achieved some success.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Hidden Criminals Advising Each Other How to Circumvent Bad Laws

via TTAG where they love to council gun owners how to break the law.

Blind New Jersey Man May Lose Guns - Court to Decide

 The Daily Record reports

A blind Rockaway Township man who is fighting to keep his gun collection defended himself Monday against allegations he abuses alcohol and said he drinks perhaps a six-pack of beer a week.

The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office wants Superior Court Judge Thomas V. Manahan in Morristown to take away 49-year-old Steven C. Hopler’s firearms purchase identification cards and end his ability to possess and buy weapons.

Assistant Prosecutor Catherine Broderick on Monday urged the judge — who said he expects to issue a written ruling by the end of this week — to rule that Hopler is unfit to have firearms because he allegedly abuses alcohol, was arrested three times between 1984 and 2003, and was taking Zoloft for depression in October 2008 when he accidentally shot himself in the shin while lubricating his .357-Magnum Smith & Wesson firearm.
We talked about Mr. Hopler before. My opinion is still the same, blindness is a disqualifier for owning firearms, as is negligently shooting oneself. This guy Hopler is a double loser.  It should be an easy decision for the judge.  We'll see soon enough.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

New York State Man Shoots 6 Horses over Dispute with Neighbor

New Jersey Herald reports

State police say a 75-year-old upstate New York man has been charged with fatally shooting 6 of his neighbor's horses after they wandered onto his property.

Troopers say Lauren McMaster likely shot the horses Saturday after they wandered onto his land in the rural Chenango County town of New Berlin, 50 miles southeast of Syracuse.

Police say they arrested McMaster Sunday and charged him with criminal mischief and cruelty to animals.

Troopers say McMaster used a 12-gauge shotgun to kill the horses. Police say he and the horse's owner had a long-standing dispute over the neighbor's horses and cows wandering onto McMaster's property.

McMaster is being held in the Chenango County Jail on $500 cash bail. It couldn't immediately be determined if he had a lawyer.
Does anyone else think it's a slap on the wrist to charge the guy like that?

Please leave a comment.

Courtney Wagner Arrested for Guns and Drugs

The Christian Post reports

Courtney Wagner, daughter of Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood, has been arrested on charges of possession. Wagner was picked up after people reported a shooting at a home in Malibu. 

When authorities arrived at the home, they found Wagner and friend Matthew Cox, along with several bags "of what appeared to be narcotics at the location," sheriff's officials stated. Numerous handguns were also found at the residence, and Cox was arrested for negligent discharge of a weapon. 

Wagner is charged with possession of narcotics but posted bond and will remain free until her next court date.
It must be hard for the offspring of the rich and famous.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of Illinois Teen - Shooter Arrested

The News Gazette reports

An Urbana teen is in police custody for accidentally shooting his cousin in the knee over the weekend.

William L. Ayres Jr., 19, was arrested late Monday morning.

2:30 p.m. Saturday, sheriff's deputies were dispatched to a call on Prairie Green in which an 18-year-old man claimed to have been shot in a drive-by shooting.

"William was playing with a gun as they were sitting in a room listening to music." 

Because of a prior conviction, Ayres is not allowed to possess a weapon.
Is an 19-year-old ever allowed to own a gun in Illinois? Even if he didn't have a prior conviction, would his owning a gun be legal?

 It seems like the prior conviction is the thing that got him arrested, not the mis-handling of the gun.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Jacksonville FL Man Shoots Bullet into Neighbor's Apartment for the Second Time - No Charges


 video link in original story

Michael Cornell, of Jacksonville, Florida was at home Wednesday night when a bullet came flying through the wall of his home from the apartment next door. Cornell said the bullet landed on the staircase in his home just minutes after his 8-year-old daughter had been playing on the stairs. 

According to Cornell, this is the second time in the past few years his neighbor has unintentionally fired a bullet into his home while cleaning his gun. Both times Cornell called the police, and both times the police said there was nothing they could do. According to the police, "the law favors the gun owner and not those affected. 

As no one was injured, the law does not allow enforcement to apprehend or cite the offender."
You know I have the solution for this, right?

Too bad the victim of this unacceptable negligence is in Florida. There isn't a more difficult state in the union in which to try for reasonable gun-rights decisions.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

John Lott, Double Talking Con Man






From page 11.
"These national polls should also produce more honest answers since a law-enforcement agency are not asking the questions. They imply much higher defensive use rates. Fifteen national polls, including those by organizations such as The Los Angeles Times, Gallup, and Peter Hart Research Associates imply that there are 760,000 to 3.6 million defensive uses of guns per year. Yet even if these estimates are wrong by a very large factor, they will suggest that defensive gun use is extremely common."
You can support the Mikeb302000 blog by purchasing that incredible book from Amazon by clicking the icon in the post. If you're a gun control supporter, there's irony there, if you're a gun rights fanatic, there's double irony. In either case the book is a must read.

Inexplicable Obama Hatred = Racism

via The Propaganda Professor

Like an interplanetary blob that keeps managing to resurrect itself for B-movie sequel after B-movie sequel no matter what the heroes do to squelch it, birtherism just will not die. Birthers absolutely live to hate President Obama; and unwilling or unable to challenge him cogently on the issues, they instead resort to ad hominem attacks and the malicious rumor mill:  he's a "socialist" and/ or a NAZI who "pals around with terrorists" and "can't speak without a teleprompter"; he's the most secretive and power-mad and corrupt president in history; and furthermore, he ain't even Amurrcan. (But of course it has nothing to do with racism, so don't you even suggest such a thing.) And proving them wrong only encourages them.

What's your opinion? Is there any other explanation for this nonsense other than racism= Please leave a comment.

Bully Behavior of the Gun-Rights Fanatics

via 2nd Amendment, Shooting and Firearms Blog

click to make bigger

More Nonsense from Wayne La Pierre

Media Matters for America reports

In an April 25 op-ed for the Daily Caller, National Rifle Association CEO and Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre took to the opinion pages to once again deploy faulty logic to claim that the reelection of President Barack Obama will precipitate an "all-out war on the Second Amendment." 

LaPierre's primary piece of evidence concerning what he calls "the web of lies spun about the president's phony, claimed support of the Second Amendment," is that current Chicago mayor and former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has been "tapped as the star co-chair for Obama's re-election effort." LaPierre claims that this is "no honorary job" but rather "real power linking Obama's re-election with Emanual's fanaticism for destroying the Second Amendment." But if Emanuel wanted to work with Obama to push gun bans nationwide he most certainly missed his best chance, which would have occurred when he worked in the highest levels of the Obama Administration.
What's your opinion? Is Wayne lying through his teeth or is he completely paranoid? I don't see a third choice. Do you?

Please leave a comment.

Cenk Interviews Rodney

April Page Views and Visits

click to make bigger

Monday, April 30, 2012

GRANNY GET YOUR GUN! - Watch what happens when Granny packs a Gaydar Gun to a wedding.

"Finally, a reason for gay people to join the NRA"

... Scott Kearnan, BAY WINDOWS




I wonder if Michele bought one?

April Crime in Richmond Virginia

Local news reports

Thirty-one people have been shot in Richmond in April, five of them fatally. Police say that the 31 shootings in the capital city are the most in any one month in at least years. It was the deadliest month in Richmond since 2007.

At least nine of this month's shootings occurred during robberies. The shooting toll does not include suicides or accidental shootings. Law enforcement officials say April tends to be a violent month. Since 2007, more people were shot in April on average than in any single month.

One reason, among many, is the warmer weather. A city prosecutor, Michael E. Hollomon, said the April violence is in contrast to February and March, months that each saw single-digit shooting totals.

Ya get that, it's the warmer weather. It has nothing to do with the lax gun laws and the ease with which Richmond criminals can get guns.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of Alabama Turkey Hunter by his Buddy - No Charges

The Anniston Star reports

An accidental shooting in Knighten’s Crossroads landed one man in an area hospital Saturday, authorities said.

Two men were hunting in full camouflage near the intersection of U.S. 278 and Roy Webb Road early Saturday when one took aim at a turkey and peppered his partner’s face with a shotgun blast instead.

The shooter took the victim to Gadsden Regional Medical Center where the injured man was treated for injuries described as “non-life-threatening,” said Matthew Wade, chief deputy for the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office.

The victim suffered injuries to his right arm, the left side of his neck and right eye, a sheriff’s deputy’s report states.

The report states that the victim and the shooter “are long time hunting buddies and have turkey hunted together on numerous occasions.”
Again with the camouflage while turkey hunting. Again with the violation of the 4 Rules of Gun Safety. What is wrong with these guys.

Accidental Shooting of KY Baby by 3-Year-old Brother - Dead Baby - No Charges Yet

Local News reports

A toddler is dead after being shot by a 3-year-old sibling, according to Radcliff police.

Officers said they received a call about an accidental shooting about 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Police said when officers arrived at the home on Keith Ct., they found that a 13-month-old had been fatally shot by a 3-year-old.

Investigators said they believe the 3-year-old found a pistol in the home and caused it to accidentally discharge while playing with it.
Every day, day after day. When will it be enough? When will the biased gun-rights fanatics stop telling us these deaths are too few to worry about, to few to expect them to be inconvenienced any further? What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of Houston 11-Year-old - He's Dead - No Charges

Local Fox News reports

An accidental shooting killed an 11-year-old boy in the 2000-block of Laverne around 2 p.m. Sunday.

According to the Houston Police Department, several kids were playing with a gun in an apartment when a shot was accidentally fired and the bullet ricocheted off a balcony and hit the young victim in his shoulder.
Every day, day after day. When will it be enough? When will the biased gun-rights fanatics stop telling us these deaths are too few to worry about, to few to expect them to be inconvenienced any further? What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Sportsmen’s Heritage Act of 2012


According to the National Parks Conservation Association, the bill would open much of the National Park System to hunting and recreational shooting. The group contends that the proposed law includes “an exemption of sorts” only for units of the National Park System specifically designated as national parks or national monuments — such as the Blue Ridge Parkway and Carl Sandburg Home Historic Site.

Known as the Sportsmen’s Heritage Act of 2012, the bill’s sponsors called it a “landmark legislative package” to protect and advance opportunities for outdoor sportsmen across the country, according to a recent news release from U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler’s office.

The 397 units of the National Park System include a multitude of designations, the association argued, including national military parks like Gettysburg, national memorials like Wright Brothers, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and Flight 93, national historical parks like San Antonio Missions and Harper’s Ferry and many others.
What's your opinion? Doesn't this sound like more bullying by the gun lobby? Please leave a comment.

Gaydar Gun - Richard Simmons Can Beat You Up

Jimmy Kimmel at Starbucks

Have you noticed how we stopped hearing about this? I have a theory about that. As illustrated in this video, the gun-rights advocates who made this such a big deal appear totally ridiculous. Given a year or so of distance, even they realize how foolish they were. What do you think?

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Alaska Pipeline Damaged by Gunfire

via Now I Know

On October 4, 2001, Mr. Lewis proved, while his parents may have been connoisseurs of baby names (or, at least, pairing first names with the family surname), that wisdom skipped a generation. His rap sheet already included charges of theft, burglary, drunk driving, and weapons violations. But that day, he'd accidentally add criminal mischief and oil pollution to that list. At roughly 2:30 in the afternoon, Daniel Carson Lewis defiled his good name (or, what was left of it) and took five shots at the pipeline with his rifle. One of his bullets hit a weld -- a joint where two pipe sections had been welded together. While the pipeline is covered by a layer of galvanized steel which is typically resistant to gunshots, the joint was a weak point. It burst open and oil came rushing out, at the rate of 140 gallons per minute according to the Associated Press

In total, over six thousand barrels leaked out of the pipeline due to Lewis's crime; roughly 4,000 of them were recovered. The damage to the pipeline required it to be shut down for two and a half days, delaying nearly three million barrels of oil. Two acres of tundra were damaged by Lewis's drunken riflery. Lewis was sentenced to sixteen years in prison and ordered to pay for the cleanup costs, totaling $17 million, which, of course, he will almost certainly never be able to afford.

What Gun Owners Fear the Most

 via TTAG


What they fear the most is a group of three or four highly armed and professional commando-types invading the home in the middle of the night intent on rape and murder.

That makes sense.  What do you think?

Accidental Shooting of Hunter by Another Hunter - No Charges

Local news reports

A man has been shot dead by his friend on a hunting trip in Southland today. 

The man was in a group of five who were spotlighting using a vehicle in the Cattle Flat area. He was killed instantly when one of the group fired a shot. 

"The deceased male was walking on a hillside attempting to locate a second deer after one had been initially shot and located by the group,'' Senior Sergeant Richard McPhail said in a statement.

It is the second hunting death in recent weeks. In March a 24-year-old Wanaka man was charged with careless use of a firearm causing death after a late-night hunting trip with a mate turned to tragedy. Dougal Fyfe died when he was shot in the back of the head while out hunting with two friends in the Maungawera Valley, near Wanaka. 

Emergency services were called to today's shooting just before 4am. Police from Invercargill and Gore attended, along with a helicopter with a paramedic onboard.
I realize that if you take all the hunters who are shot and killed by other hunters and divide by the number of stars in the galaxy, you come up with a small percentage. Nevertheless, there are too many of these "accidents."

The sad reality is too many gun owners have no knowledge of the 4 Rules of Gun Safety and too many of them lack the common sense to implement these common-sense safety protocols into their own personal gun management program.

 I mean, how intelligent do you have to be to realize you shouldn't shoot at something if you're not certain of the target and what's behind it? How sharp do you need to be to realize instinctively that you shouldn't point a gun at someone or put your finger on the trigger before you're ready to fire?

Unfortunately too many lack these basic connections in the brain.  They are unfit to own guns in the first place and in my opinion should lose their gun rights as soon as they demonstrate their incapacity.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting in Gun-Paradise Vermont - No Charges

Local news reports

Police say 22-year-old Brendan Barber was seriously injured Friday afternoon when a he was shot through the pelvis. He was flown by helicopter to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire.

Officials say police were called at about 3:30 p.m. to a city street where they found Barber lying on the ground.
Police told the Rutland Herald ( ) that Barber initially said he was shot by someone in a passing car.

Investigators said they later determined that the shooting was accidental, but didn't explain how the shooting took place.

More Money for Background Check System

 The Mineola Patch reports

The House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science appropriated $12 million – more than double the previous fiscal year – for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System’s (NICS) fiscal year 2013 budget Thursday.  The fiscal year 2012 appropriation was only $5 million.

As the House sponsor of the Fix Gun Checks Act, the bill would strengthen the nation’s Instant Criminal Background Check System by (a) requiring a background check for every gun sale in America and (b) implementing a set of incentives and penalties for states to put the names of dangerous criminals and the dangerously mentally ill into the no-buy gun database.
What's your opinion? How can anybody object to this? I find it amazing that so many gun-rights folks do.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

‘Well-regulated militia’ is nowhere in sight


The city at the north end of our cultural-technology corridor put on a sensational fireworks display earlier this month to celebrate the 220th anniversary of the Constitution’s 2nd Amendment being ratified.

It was four months late, but what a meaningful way to recognize how the National Rifle Association (NRA) and others have used that controversial amendment. Actually, it’s not the amendment that’s controversial, it’s the broad differences on how it should be interpreted.

I have family members and good friends who disagree with me, but I’m one of those who believe reasonable gun controls, in addition to being constitutional, would be a huge plus for public safety.

You may have noticed that the 2nd Amendment’s first two phrases focus on the necessity of a well-regulated militia. I believe the Founding Fathers envisioned an organized and well-regulated militia. I can’t believe they had in mind more than 300 million people running around with weapons ranging from small caliber revolvers to assault weapons.
That makes sense to me, how about you? If folks insist on citing the slave-owning, misogynistic demi-gods they reverently refer to as The Founders, they should at least strive to be honest about what they, The Founders, intended.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Tommy Marth, The Killers Saxophonist Kills Himself with a Gun

Contact Music reports

The Killers saxophonist Tommy Marth was found dead in his back garden at his home in Las Vegas, the Guardian reports. Marth apparently took his own life, with the Clark County coroner recently coming on record to announce a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head found on the corpse when services arrived. He was 33.
Gun availability plays a major role in suicides.Using a little common sense, it's easy enough to figure how this works.  Given the high lethality of a gunshot to the head, attempting suicide in this manner is more likely to succeed than using a razor or pills, which are the other most common means.

Common sense doesn't work for the pro-gun crowd, I'm afraid.  They have too much bias for that. So what might work is this.

Based on the theory that many people who attempt suicide are not completely dedicated to the idea but are acting on impulse or acting out of a temporary period of difficulty, we can assume that if unsuccessful they'd be glad and never attempt it again. This was proven in a survey some years ago in which survivors of gunshot suicide attempts were interviewed. Every single one expressed gratitude for having survived the close call and expressed a desire to live.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

I kin haz teh bunkerz?

Well, another survivalizt bitez the dust:

http://news.yahoo.com/sheriff-body-found-wash-mountain-bunker-174403979.html

I'm sure it was something that no one could have foreseen happening, a guy with a fetishistic love for teh gunz and delusional tendencie plus a little garden variety adequacy and anger management issues. Until he popped his cork, he was just another Citizen Soldier of the 2nd Amendment Militia.


One of the problems* faced by the CSot2ndAMis that they are diffuse and without any apparent command and control structure. They stand ready to repel the invading Obamanannybootedjackthugs, but they are in small groups. They got some waycool gunz, but nothing bigger than a .50 cal machine gun in most cases.  Those A-10's that mikeb302000 posted about earlier? they're quite well suited to hunting down people that they can't see, because the 30mm cannon they carry kills anyting that it hits unless they're in a pretty hard site. And it takes more than a burst from a BMG to bring one down. That's what the hunter-killer squads of the FEMADHS will be using, fellas, not a few guyz with M-16 notmainbattleriflecarbines.


*  The primary problem for many of them is that they're teh batshit KKKrazzee