Let's Talk Numbers

Why doesn't anyone challenge these people when they start talking about guns and gun violence? Where are the homicides, what are the circumstances surrounding those homicides? Who used the gun? Where did they get it? Should they have been in possession? Anyway, check out the current field of candidates for the Democratic nomination for President and think about those questions while you read about the fight Cory Booker says he's going to bring to the NRA if he becomes president. Go Read It

Chemical Deterrent

Why, oh, why do I keep hearing people recommend using wasp spray for self-defense? Sheesh. If you are interested in defending yourself--and aren't interested in carrying a firearm--please use something that is labeled as such, i.e. pepper spray. You know that some criminal is going to sue you because they have some sort of "neurological damage" after you hit them with bug killer. Don't. Just don't.

I Gave Up on Being Liked

A long time ago. Get 'em Mr. Colin

It's How The Frog Gets Boiled

For one thing it's not clear to me how the Manchin-Toomey legislation would require law-abiding citizens give up an essential liberty; it would not prevent law-abiding citizens from buying guns and it wouldn't prohibit any classes of guns from being built or owned. It would close a loophole in an existing background check regime.

And there is the rub. Closing the so called "loophole" is another incremental step toward the ultimate goal of registration. There is no way for the government to know where all the guns are without some sort of registration scheme. That registration has to come through the form of "common sense" laws like Manchin-Toomey being passed and then expanded. Those who believe that this is "common sense" have not bothered to research the history of gun registration. If they had, they might be singing a different tune. 

Go read it.

Where to Start?

The rebuttal examines the very spirit of the Constitution. Our Second Amendment rights guarantee us the right to keep and bear arms without infringement. What's missing from the average gun owner's argument is the critical first portion of the amendment right: "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state." This short phrase not only brings up the question of the government's right to control guns at all, but the rights of the people to form militias for the protection of their states. 

What? I'm not even sure what is being said here.

Adding all the assets of demographic areas and resources, it's doubtful the federal government would favor very well the formation of separate state militias. Nor has it dealt kindly with self-appointed militias that have sprung up randomly throughout the U.S. There is a high level of distrust on both sides, a suspicion that either the population will turn on the government or the government will turn on the citizens. 

Sheesh. Try the phrases "unorganized militia United States" and "standing army" in your favorite search engine. 

Then think about it this way. Who cares what "the government" wants? The government is of, by and for the people. If the people prefer a milita system to a regular army then so be it.
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.
Go read it.

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.

Break Out The Popcorn

This is about to get good.
AG Holder: Feds Will Ignore State Laws and Enforce Gun Grab

President blames 2nd Amendment for Mexico Violence

This is a exercise in choose your poison. Remember President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder are responsible for the Fast and Furious gun walking scandal, but have managed to play the system so they will not suffer any consequences.
If you want to get mad go read this version: "Obama Blames U.S." Just the two really key quotes from the President.
If you'd rather be slightly madder read this one: "Obama: Most of the guns..." A little more of the President's other remarks, making himself look good to the foreign audience.
If you'd prefer to get really ticked off go read this load of talking points worked into a story: "Obama Mexico Visit Highlights Ties..." Ugh. please don't torture yourself with this one.
I read all three so my blood pressure is up and I feel nauseous.

Shoot And Move

Over at guns.com they detail a new app from the wonderful world of DARPA.

The app is still in development, but it’s based on a system the military already uses. Starting in 2007, Vanderbilt developed a similar system under Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Science Akos Ledeczi using soldier’s helmet cams to locate incoming sniper fire. By connecting the helmet cams through a wireless network, the shot locator was able to pinpoint the snipers with “a surprising degree of accuracy.”

Go read it.

Stuntman

Everyone allows this one to slide, except maybe the guy's wife.

Seeking to make a point about firearms, a Michigan man decided to open carry his .45-cal. handgun at his daughter’s school and later uploaded the footage to YouTube.

Go read it.

Next Up: Knife Control

Time to start training in the ol' choir robes, I guess.

A 24-year-old man rushed the choir at the tail end an Albuquerque, N.M., church service on Sunday, brandishing a knife and ultimately stabbing four.Witnesses said to CNN that he jumped over several pews to get to the choir, screaming, “Fake preacher!” The incident occurred at St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church, The Associated Press said.

And, yes, concealed carry is allowed in churches in New Mexico.
Go read it.

NBC Reports-What Could Go Wrong?

NBC does GM Truck Gas Tanks
NBC goes undercover
NBC Does Hecklers
NBC does George Zimmerman
I'm sure there are more I can't recall right now, but you get my drift. Now CNBC is doing a report on the AR-15. What could go wrong?
Go watch the promo.

More For the Choir

Liberties lost in the name of safety... Over at The Atlantic, Wendy Kaminer tells the emperor he's naked as a jaybird.

You shouldn't deny the fear that drives the diminution of freedom. You'll only end up looking foolish. "A bomb can't beat us," President Obama assured Bostonians three days after the attack. "We don't hunker down ... we don't cower in fear." Yes we do. Less than 24 hours after Obama left town, hundreds of thousands of us were "sheltering in place."

Go read it.

Defy. Resist. Evade. Smuggle.

My name is Mike Vanderboegh and I'm a smuggler. I am from the great free state of Alabama and I am a Three Percenter. 

If you wish to stay free and to pass down that freedom to your children's children you can do no less than to become the lawbreakers that they have unconstitutionally made of you. Accept that fact. Embrace it. And resolve to be the very best, most successful lawbreakers you can be.

Go read the transcript of Mike Vanderboegh's speech on Lexington Green.

Share This One

This one will make you think. Are you ready?

The first thing to mention is AVOIDANCE. This is the best form of threat mitigation. If you can avoid large public events then you are going a long way to avoiding being caught in a terrorist attack, or even an active shooter event. 

Go read it.

So They Lost Because Their Supporters Are Lazy

By way of The Captains Journal.

And oh, there are the excuses. Poor Michael Hirsh has perhaps the best one. ” … it is practically a iron law of politics that the larger the interest group—in this case, the 90 percent of all Americans who want background checks—the less likely it will be able to mobilize against a smaller, more organized and passionate interest group, such as the National Rifle Association.” Nine out of ten people can’t win anything against the one holdout.

I would liken gun control supporters to the single, voice-of-reason holdout on a jury. The one who really understands, and holds dear, the idea of justice, the law, and reasonable doubt. That single person among twelve can ensure that an innocent man goes free. 

It takes guts and determination to stand your ground when being browbeaten by those who want to make an emotional decision and get back to work and families, rather than truly consider what that hasty decision will do to another human being or the rights of future generations. 

Just say "Guilty"and we can all go home, just say "Gun Control" and everything will be better. "Wrong," says the man of strong heart, "protect the innocent, protect the rights of law-abiding citizens." Gun rights advocates did just that and, thankfully, the Senate listened. I'm proud you and I were part of that effort. I personally would rather be part of an "organized and passionate" minority than a lazy majority any day.

Go read Hirsch's full piece.

This One is Entertaining

Obama Reacts to Gun Control Loss (with subtitles)

It's super annoying when Senators listen to their constituents.

That pretty much sums it up. It's worth the four minutes.

No time to Sigh With Relief

Democratic leadership aides said the effort could be revived if a public groundswell demanded it. “The world is watching the United States Senate, and we will be held accountable,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, who helped lead the gun control effort.  

I can tell you, Senator Blumenthal, that the rest of the world doesn't have such a good record for following the will and protecting the rights of their people. Not that we're a shining example, but this is a step in the right direction. Defeat of this bill was just the reasoned response of those who realize what is really at stake. So, take your whining and go home.
More will come, bet on it. Go read it.
In the meantime, call your senators and tell them to vote against cloture on Harry Reid’s bill (S. 649) so it can die in the Senate rather than hold out 'til later. The number to the capitol is 202-224-3121, the switchboard will hook you up with your folks to oppose cloture. 

It's No Paradox

It's just a lack of actual common sense, or maybe hardcore dedication to denial of reality.

And yet it is still nutty to insist that the answer is more restrictions on more types of weapons. Of course, gun- control advocates are calling for such bans in part to protect civilians from each other -- to stop the next Sandy Hook or Aurora, for instance. There is both nobility and reason in such a rationale. Yet when gun rights advocates point out that the Second Amendment was created to protect against tyranny, and that we should thus be cautious in banning the weapons it guarantees us, we are once again treated to a host of claims as to how the Second Amendment is now irrelevant because the government is inarguably more powerful than the citizenry could ever hope to be. So the argument becomes at once both rational and confusing: we cannot compete against the military, but we can and should strip the populace of many firearms in order to protect ourselves from ourselves. Say what?

Go read it.