So Ridiculous

So very ridiculous. Two too many. Ugh, let the stoopid begin.
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Well Doc, It's None of Your Business

To pediatricians, gun control is a public health issue, not a political one. But they're treading a fine line, and they know it.

If it's a public health issue, why is the American Academy of Pediatrics not pushing their members to educate and instead asking for: 

"an assault weapon ban, mandatory background checks and waiting periods before all firearm purchases, a ban on high-capacity magazines, handgun regulations and requirements for safe firearm storage under federal law."

A safe storage act I could understand them pushing to pass, but all the rest smacks of plain ol' garden variety politics.
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There's Apoplectic And Then There's Apoplectic

I don't know why the hubbub over weapons coming to 3D printing is really bothering me, but it is. I think it's just because people who should know better are jumping up and down and shouting that crazy people will be making weapons in their basement.

Because it isn't. Kokesh's march is just the latest product of the great American panic machine, the mechanism by which the extreme right works itself into spasms of apoplectic terror over threats that don't exist.
"We're going to be under Shariah law!"
Except we're not.
"We've become a socialist country!"
Except we haven't.
"There's a war on Christmas!"
Except there isn't.
"They're trying to take our guns away!"
Except that it is now theoretically possible for a mental patient to manufacture his own gun in the comfort of his aluminum foil-lined basement. That's a sobering development with far-reaching implications barely considered, much less addressed, by lawmakers, though this technology has existed for over a decade. Since Wilson's test, there's been a flurry of calls for legislation. On Friday, the federal government ordered Wilson to remove the blueprints from his website. All of which is the very epitome of locking the garage after the Hyundai has been hot-wired.

Speaking of working oneself into spasms of apoplectic terror...people have been making weapons in their suitably decorated basements since the first hole was dug. So the Hyundai analogy is a bit late, the cow go out of the barn a long time ago.

So, I'm here to tell the ninnies in pressland, 3D printers aren't going to be much aid anyone in making a gun right now. The printers are too few and far between to be a serious source of concern. The real concern from my vantage point is that some of these people who should know better are finally coming to grips with the fact that the determined person cannot be stopped.
Yes, Virginia, there are boogeymen. And, my dearest V, the boogeymen have always had the ability to make improvised weapons. Humans are smart animals and have a long history of giving themselves bigger and better claws and teeth. Just because the process has been streamlined by a fancy piece of tech that could potentially be housed in someone's living room doesn't mean they weren't already making items that scare you. It's just that before someone had to make a trip to the local home improvement store to get some pipe and lumber. Realization sometimes makes a thunderous crack when it dawns, huh?

Go read it.

I Like This One

I like it a lot.
Missouri has passed a bill that says:

All federal acts, laws, orders, rules, and regulations, whether past, present, or future, which infringe on the people’s right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 23 of the Missouri Constitution shall be invalid in this state, shall not be recognized by this state, shall be specifically rejected by this state, and shall be considered null and void and of no effect in this state.

This includes the Gun Control Acts of 1934 and 1968. I'm sure Eric Holder has had a conniption. This appeals to my stubborn side.

The more times the people say "No!" The more likely the powers that be are likely to get it. Stop messing with our rights...give us back the pieces of pie that you took before.
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Just Plain Ol' Dumb

There's no other explanation for this except stupidity.

As part of a continued effort to enrich the movie-going experience of its patrons, Capital 8 Theaters in Jefferson City, Missouri, sent a fake gunman into a screening of the film ‘Iron Man 3′ last weekend because, you know, what’s more thrilling to a captivated audience situated in a dark environment than a man decked out in full tactical gear, toting what appears to be a modified M4?

Yikes. There's a whole lot of "could've gone wrong" right there. Go read it.

Zero Tolerance -- Seriously, I Mean, Seriously?

I really just don't know what to say about this one. I think the headline says it all.

Two Boys Suspended For Pointing Pencils Like Guns

7 years old, 7. Most 7 year olds can't remember where they took their shoes off an hour ago. 

A two-day suspension. Seriously? 

I have zero tolerance for Zero tolerance.
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Time For a Reverse Tongue Lashing

GOP Lawmakers May Revive Gun Debate After Receiving Tongue Lashing From Constituents

If your GOP Legislator is waffling, give them a call and get them back on the right side of the fence.

Eeek, a Gun!

And it's made of plastic. Whatever shall we do? Criminals could make one in their own home. Sheesh. Settle down there Max/Carter before you wet yourselves.

Critics already perceived the recent gun bill to be inadequate to the challenge of gun violence; criminals and psychopaths need only wait for the printers to get cheaper before they can make all sorts of evil in their basements. And Congress will still be chasing the gun shows. . .

People can already make their own gun and more laws won't stop anyone from doing just that. Just ask prison guards who find homemade firearms in prisons. Can't stop it there, can't stop it in the outside world. And, it's not illegal to make your own, unreported gun, BTW.

What makes the 3D-printed gun so dangerous is that it muddies the waters of the gun control debate in a way that makes it harder for proponents of gun control and technologists to agree on exactly what they mean.

Ummm, what?
Anyway.
Interesting this.

Fewer than 1 percent of state prison inmates who possessed a gun when they committed their offense obtained the firearm at a gun show, the report said. Gun shows were central to the measure recently rejected in the Senate: ...

So maybe gun-controllers have it wrong, hmmm? I mean if the Justice Department said it, it must be true.
Go read it.

Pay No Attention

to the man behind the curtain, says President Obama at Ohio State. Here are a few of the juicy tidbits

And that’s precisely what the Founders left us — the power, each of us, to adapt to changing times. ...
To conquer fascism and disease; to visit the Moon and Mars; to gradually secure our God-given rights for all of our citizens, regardless of who they are, or what they look like, or who they love.

why does he get to say, "secure our God-given rights" when he's the one trying to take them away? Oh, that's right, he has the bully pulpit and we're just the peons who dare to challenge him.

The founders trusted us with this awesome authority. We should trust ourselves with it, too. Because when we don’t, when we turn away and get discouraged and cynical, and abdicate that authority, we grant our silent consent to someone who will gladly claim it.
So you can’t give up your passion if things don’t work right away. You can’t lose heart, or grow cynical if there are twists and turns on your journey. The cynics may be the loudest voices — but I promise you, they will accomplish the least. It’s those folks who stay at it, those who do the long, hard, committed work of change that gradually push this country in the right direction, and make the most lasting difference.

Amen to that. Wait, he meant the opposite of what I mean. Go back and reread that paragraph. It's quite telling. Silent consent and claimers of power have gotten us to this point. Rugged individualism will only serve to sink us deeper into the rights-stripping quicksand. Standing united we can regain the rights we have lost.

I think about how we might perpetuate this notion of citizenship in a way that another politician from my home state of Illinois, Adlai Stevenson, once described patriotism not as “short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” That’s what patriotism is. That’s what citizenship is. 

Defenders of the Second Amendment need to remember all these words. Go read the full transcript.

When to Begin

the prosecutions? If CBS is on it how long until the others follow?

...CBS reported, “Throughout the night, sources say Americans on the ground in Libya at times felt helpless and abandoned… But they were told immediate help wasn’t available.” But, counterterrorism sources and internal emails reviewed by CBS News express frustration that key responders were ready to deploy, but were not called upon to help.

Go read it.