Saturday, February 26, 2011

Joe Huffman on Rights

 Joe Huffman responded to my post over on his blog.

But after many decades of testing this hypothesis, all over the world, in many different circumstances and cultures the best that can be said about gun control is that the benefits are inconclusive. If you want to look at more middle of the road data we have the example of what happened to the murder rate in Washington D.C. when the gun ban was declared unconstitutional. Within one year it dropped to the lowest level since 1985 – a 24 year low. And what about forcible rape? That turned out different. Within one year it dropped to the lowest level since 1967—a 42 year low. Or (via Roberta’s comment) some international data that suggests similar trends. That should be a strong hint that strict gun laws are not the solution to increasing public safety.

But if you want to look at the strongest evidence that gun control is a risk to public safety look at the genocides committed in the 20th Century. From the 1 to 1.5 million Armenians murdered in Ottoman Turkey from 1915->1917 to the 800,000 Tutsi murdered in Rwanda in 1994 gun control enabled the murder of tens of millions of people by their own governments. The evidence continues to mount in places like Darfur. Genocide only occurs when the government knows who owns the guns and/or bans guns.

My comment:

I agree with the others, Joe, that it was a wonderful post.
Your first couple of paragraphs did indeed contain some points that interested me and to which I'd like to say something.  The rest, which I did read by the way, seemed like a repeating of your standard arguments.

About Washington DC, you said after the gun ban was lifted they had all that improvement. That's a little unfair because when I blame gun availability for gun violence I'm told there are other factors, something with which I agree completely. Naturally, the removal of gun control would not be the only factor in any improvement they had. Right?  But here's the real problem with what you said. After the gun ban was lifted things changed very little for the people of the District, isn't that so?  Didn't the police and politicians conspire to make in next to impossible for them to excercise their newly restored rights? Same thing happened in Chicago a year later.  So, for that reason you really can't credit the lifting of the gun ban even in part on the reduced stats for violence.

Your next point is one that always baffles me.  How an intelligent man like yourself can believe in that alarmist talk which says genocide can come to America and we better be prepared, is beyond me. It's evidence of paranoia, sorry I don't know how else to respond to it.

Can you really compare the present day US, with all it's divisiveness, to Ottoman Turkey, or even the more recent Tutsi people of Rwanda?  All I can say is "It can't happen here," to quote Frank Zappa. It's apples and oranges.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Larry Pratt

Just a reminder.

Women and Guns in NC


What's your opinion? Do you think there is a difference between "feeling safer" and actually "being safer?" Isn't it possible to feel safer and actually be less safe, couldn't it all be an illusion of safety?

Please leave a comment.

Megan Talks to Larry Pratt



What do you think about Pratt's performance? It's guys like him who teach fanaticism to the gun owners, him and Wayne. Smooth-talking con artists is what they are.

Please leave a comment.

New Tennessee Gun Laws

Winston Dorian likes this, I suppose. He didn't really come right out and say it.
A measure that would exempt handgun permit holders from criminal background checks to buy weapons is one of two gun bills advancing in the state Senate.

The proposal sponsored by Republican Sen. Steve Southerland of Morristown was moved to the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday after passing the Senate Judiciary Committee 8-1. The companion bill is awaiting a vote in the same committee in the House.

The other proposal sponsored by Republican Sen. Mike Bell of Riceville states that it’s not an occupational hazard for employers to allow workers with handgun permits to carry their weapons at work. The measure is headed for a full Senate vote after also passing the Senate Judiciary Committee 8-1.
What's your opinion? Does it sometimes seem the lax gun states are competing with each other to see who can be the most irresponsible?

Please leave a comment.

More Laci on Rights


One of the more bizarre comments that medieval peasants did have rights, the fact that they did not know about these rights and were unable to exercise them did not matter, the right existed.

The problem with that is that is it seems an absurdity. The point of a right is to be able to exercise that right, The fact that a right is claimed, or even exists, which is unable to be exercised makes it irrelevant.

For example, Dred Scott v. Sandford pointed out that slaves were property and were unable to exercise rights. In fact, slavery is the big bugaboo in the inalienable right argument: after all, can someone consent to be a slave?
I wonder how the gun spinners will respond to this one. I know they can, so let's hear it, boys. Just because you say you need certain inanimate objects in order to do proper self-defense, does that make it so?

Please leave a comment.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Tulsa Gun Club Theft

The police chief was just shocked.



I realize these people don't enjoy the highest of educational opportunities in their state, but leaving guns just lying around in a building like that is asking for them to be stolen. This is a good example of where the "victim" of the theft is partly responisble. The thief is 100% responsible for having stolen. But the "victims" of this crime are 100% guilty of being a stupid, sloppy, arrogant gun owners who thinks they can do whatever they wants with their guns.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

The Arizona State Gun

The Phoenix Net Times reports.


Like many actions taken by the Legislators this legislative session, the move seems to defy all logic.

In case you forgot, there was a (ahem) little shooting incident that happened in Tucson last month that left six people dead and several others, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, wounded. The incident sparked cries from the sane that perhaps Arizona's gun laws are a bit too lax, and the state's gun culture should be abandoned.

We poked around a bit, and learned that no other state in the country has an official state gun. In fact, Utah is the only other state to consider such a useless piece of legislation, and recently proposed a similar bill that is currently working its way through its Legislature.

So, with no other state in the country having an official state gun, and Arizona recently suffering through one of the most tragic mass shootings in American history, perhaps -- for image sake -- the gun nuts in the Arizona state Legislature could have held off on proposing such a thoughtless piece of legislation that serves literally no purpose.
What's your opinion? Are they some wacky gun nuts down there, or what?

Please leave a comment.

Another "Justified" Police Shooting

They sure do like giving the benefit of the doubt to trigger-happy cops.

"Given the totality of the circumstances, Officer Dalessi was justified in believing that Poccia presented an immediate and serious threat of death or great bodily harm," the district attorney concluded. "Accordingly, we have determined that Officer Dalessi's use of deadly force here was legally justified and, thereby, no criminal act was committed in the use of such force while carrying out his duties as a sworn police officer."
I believe shootings like this, however understandable, must be seen as tragic mistakes rather than as justified responses. Men who are entrusted with the responsibility of carrying a gun, both cops and concealed carry permit holders, must not be permitted to make mistakes like this without paying for them.  The price: forfeiture of gun rights, for a start.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

The Toll of Gun Violence

via Laci dedicated to Orygunner, whom I won't expect to watch the whole thing but I'll direct his attention to the 3:30 mark. That's how I feel about the leaky bucket, or the seive, as the priest says.

About Climate Change

via Laci dedicated to FWM

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Glenn Beck on Judaism

4-Year-Old Cop's Son Dead - No Charges

Indiana prosecutors often recuse themselves from cases involving local police officers with whom they work on a regular basis, but Wilhelm told the state police the circumstances surrounding the incident did not meet the elements of a crime under Indiana code.
The disgracefully lax Indiana gun laws allow for something like this. More than the laws, it's the attitude towards guns. That cop should be publicly flogged with a bamboo cane and then forfeit his gun rights for life.

What kind of message does it send to all the other gun owners in Indiana, many of whom are even less trained and less safety conscious than police officers? I'll tell you what kind.  It sends a message that guns and gun rights are sacred. Nothing should interfere with them, not even the safety and protection of 4-year-old children.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

NY Police Shooting Information

It seems the New York City Police have been trying to keep secrets.  I guess you can't blame them.

A Manhattan judge has ordered the NYPD to release data on police shooting incidents that it had been fighting tooth and nail to keep private. 

In a decision made public yesterday, state Supreme Court Justice Emily Jane Goodman ruled the cops must turn over two kinds of reports that are filed after every shooting incident involving a civilian to the New York Civil Liberties Union. 

She ordered the NYPD to turn over data dating back to 1997, but said they can withhold information identifying police, victims and witnesses from the documents. 

The NYCLU had been trying to get the two types of reports created after cops fire their weapons at civilians -- one that's done 24 hours after the shooting and the other 90 days later -- since early 2009.
What's your opinion? Does this effort on the part of the New York cops remind you of the concealed carry guys who want their information to remain secret?  Wouldn't transparency be best?

Please leave a comment.

The Giles Family

Alex Lawson of Media Matters for America provided a link to a short video interview he did at the CPAC with Regis Giles.


(photo credit Alex Lawson, CPAC 2011)


This is the gang about which I said the other day, "It's not all her fault."

If Giles' name is familiar, that's because she is the younger sister of ACORN prostitute-posingHannah Giles. Their father, Doug Giles, is the Christian motorcyclist talking head who condemned the "shemales" who hate Sarah Palin.
What's your opinion? Do you sometimes think conservative thinking and right wing politics are like contageous diseases? It must be hard for people surrounded by that stuff to escape.

Please leave a comment.

Gunloon Brownshirts

Gunloons often like to portray themselves as defenders of civil rights.

Odd...why do these gunloons seek to deny the civil rights of others?
Members of the various Tea Party, 9/12, and other freedom-oriented folks in the Atlanta area will be assembling in the vicinity of Georgia State Capitol this coming Wednesday afternoon at 4 pm. We’ll be providing balance to the ravings of the passengers aboard the SEIU Thugbus, which is scheduled to vomit forth its stooges at that same place and time.


If you are within three hours drive of ATL, come join us.
Dan and others from RTC will be there, with the usual accoutrements. As always, each participant is responsible for compliance with all applicable local laws.
Then there's this gunloon who'll be 'spending more time with the family:'
In an article published Wednesday on Mother Jones, author Adam Weinstein said Cox continued to advocate the use of deadly force on protesters.

 
Cox tweeted, "You're damn right I advocate deadly force," in response to a query from Weinstein.

Of course, such gunloonery has a rich and proud history.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The Right to Life

My comment on Joe Huffman's blog, which I have no doubt is there for all to see. Joe has never refused to post my comments or done any other petty nonsense like removing the link back here. I appreciate that.

I think what you guys have decided, if I understand you correctly, is you've taken a fairly universally accepted right like "life," the idea that we all have a right to "life," and you've moved from there to "self-defense."  If we have a right to "life" we must have a right to defend that life. So far so good.  But here's where you lose me and a lot of other people too, If you have a right to "self-defense," you keep saying, then you have a right to own guns in order to best exercise that self-defense.  I say that doesn't follow.

How about this?  We have a right to life, right? Too many guns in the hands of irresponsible or criminal people are interfering with that right, the right to life. We need proper (strict) gun control laws in order to ensure the ability of people to enjoy their right to "life."

Why would your leap of faith that easy individual gun ownership is the best way to exercise our right to life be any more valid than my idea that the best way is to severely restrict and control guns?
What do you think? Does it make sense?

Please leave a comment.

The Mozambique Drill

via Orygunner

Jeff Cooper's Commentaries are such that everyone can enjoy them. Gun enthusiasts can find justification and vivid material for their fantasies and gun control folks can rejoice in the fact that we don't.

I added The Mozambique Drill to the modern doctrine after hearing of an experience of a student of mine up in Mozambique when that country was abandoned. My friend was involved in the fighting that took place around the airport of Laurenco Marquez. At one point, Mike turned a corner was confronted by a terrorist carrying an AK47. The man was advancing toward him at a walk at a range of perhaps 10 paces. Mike, who was a good shot, came up with his P35 and planted two satisfactory hits, one on each side of the wishbone. He expected his adversary to drop, but nothing happened, and the man continued to close the range. At this point, our boy quite sensibly opted to go for the head and tried to do so, but he was a little bit upset by this time and mashed slightly on the trigger, catching the terrorist precisely between the collar bones and severing his spinal cord. This stopped the fight.
What's your opinion? Jeff Cooper seems to be writing to mercernaries and soldiers of fortune and American gun owners are quoting him and looking to him for advice.  Do you think that's weird? I do.

Please leave a comment.

Daytona Beach FL Gun Cleaning "Accident"

from the Orlando Sentinal.

A Daytona Beach man was killed today in an apparent gun-cleaning accident, Volusia County deputies said.

According to a sheriff's spokesman, deputies were called to the home of 49-year-old Jeffrey Williams about 5:15 p.m. by his wife. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators determined that Williams had been cleaning his shotgun in the work area of a pole barn on the couple's property, when he was struck by an accidental discharge.
This is why we need to get as strict as possible with issuing gun licenses. The only way to prevent this kind of stupidity, fatal stupidity, is to prevent guys like this from having a gun in the first place. With higher standards for gun ownership, many of the ones capable of this kind of behaviour would be disqualified for various reasons.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

"Girls Just Wanna Have Guns" and "Primal Urge"

via Jezebel

Regis Giles, the young opportunist who's trying to cash in on the right's fascination with tough-talking gals, introduced her company, "Girlsjustwannahaveguns.com" and her upcoming cable TV show, "Primal Urge" at CPAC last week. You'd have to enter the seedy world of adult videos to find double entendres with greater sexual overtones than those classy titles, which of course betrays the fact that she's just another greedy opportunist. But, it's not all her fault. 
If Giles' name is familiar, that's because she is the younger sister of ACORN prostitute-posingHannah Giles. Their father, Doug Giles, is the Christian motorcyclist talking head who condemned the "shemales" who hate Sarah Palin.

St. Petersburg FL - Third Cop Killed

via Dog Gone of Penigma.

A 25-year veteran of the St. Petersburg, Fla., police was gunned down Monday night while trying to apprehend a suspected burglar, becoming the department's third member to be killed in the line of duty in less than a month.
The guns, which are apparently more available than ever on the streets of St. Petersburg, have all come from legitimate gun owners. This has been an overlooked fact of life in the old lawful-gun-owners vs. criminal-gun-owners discussions.

In places like Florida, criminals have an easier time obtaining guns. It's a direct result of the lax gun laws and the self-serving, consequences-be-damned attitudes of the legitimate gun owners.

That's why I say they're responsible.

Mass Shootings and Lax Gun States

(click to make bigger)


The Arizona Daily Star adds their voice.

But don't expect Arizona to tighten regulations in the wake of the shootings. On the contrary, numerous bills in the Legislature this year, many introduced since the Jan. 8 shootings, would loosen regulations on the possession and use of firearms.

One proposed law, introduced a month after the apparently mentally ill Jared Lee Loughner was charged in connection with the shootings, would have made it easier for people previously judged mentally ill to win back their right to own firearms. Another proposed law would make Arizona the second state to let people with concealed-carry permits take guns onto college campuses.
That little map up there shows a very interesting thing, one which I'm sure the pro-gun crowd is well aware of. Most mass shootings take place in states with lax gun laws. That's the real connection, not the fact that they usually take place in "gun-free zones," like the gun rights crowd keeps saying. The first important connection is to the poor gun laws or lack thereof that make it too easy for bad guys to get guns.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Another Victory for the Gun Lobby

Chris Brown of Media Matters wrote about the latest blow to common sense gun control efforts.
Last week, the House of Representatives voted 277 to 149 to block the Obama administration from implementing a proposed rule intended to help the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) stem the flow of weapons to Mexican cartels. The proposed rule would require gun shops near the Mexican border to report multiple sales of assault-weapons, such as AR-15s and AK-47s, to the ATF. The reporting rule has repeatedly been delayed, despite calls by U.S. law enforcement and the Mexican government to address the southbound flow of weapons.
How in the world could such an initiative be considered a threat to the 2nd Amendment? How it could be useful for law enforcement is obvious.
By siding with gun lobbyists over law enforcement officials, 236 Republicans and 41 Democrats demonstrated that, in the halls of Congress, NRA priorities trump law enforcement needs. 


                                                              Ayes                                   Noes                    NV
Republican                                               236                                      2                         2
Democratic                                                41                                   147                        5
Independent
TOTALS                                                 277                                   149                        7


What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Death Penelty for Shawna

via Dog Gone of Penigma.

Shawna Forde was sentenced to death. It was for "orchestrating," not for actually shooting.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Guns on Texas Campuses

Why Evolution is True posted a wonderful article critical of the upcoming Texas legislation.  Included was this quote from a conservative student and a believer in gun rights.

Frankie Shulkin, a first-year law student at the University of Texas, said he doesn’t think he’d feel safer if other students in his classes had guns.
“If I was taking an exam and knew the person next to me had one, I don’t know how comfortable I would feel,” Shulkin said. “I am in favor of guns rights and your typical conservative guy, but the classroom thing bugs me.”
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Teenage Negligent Homicide in Houston

These teenagers grew up in one of the most gun friendly places in the country. Yet, when it came to gun safety, they were clueless. Is this an anomaly, do you think? Is this an exception to the rule of demystifying the gun as a safety measure?

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Police Shooting in Milan

People often ask what's the difference between the U.S. and Italy. It's a difficult question to answer, but every once in a while there's a news story that touches upon it.
"A Tunisian man... who was in a car with his wife and three children tried to smash into the terminal," a security source the airport told AFP.

"He then got out of the car with a knife in his hand and threatened a police officer. The officer tried to calm him," he said.

"When the man threw his knife at the officer, the officer shot him in the foot," the source added.
I'd say that North African man is lucky he didn't try that knife-throwing bit at Dallas/Ft. Worth.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Laci on Rights

Laci wrote a wonderful post exploring the byzantine and bizarre world of "rights." 

I have to admit that I find the US concept of rights to be incredibly biased and ignorant. It seems that they are stuck in the rut of inalienable rights, natural rights, god given rights, and pre-existing rights. Various definitions of inalienability include non-relinquishability, non-salability, and non-transferability. If one thinks about it, all those terms are gibberish.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

The ASK Program

Baldr wrote an interesting post about the ASK (Asking Saves Children) Program.

But don't think this is some sort of inquisition into the private life of others.  It's normal and expected for parents to ask critical questions the first time their child visits, and it doesn't have to be confrontational or judgmental.   If you are a responsible parent, you ask about whether prescription medicines are stored locked or out of reach, whether knives are out of reach, or whether the kids will be out of parental supervision at any time.  If the caregiver or other parent is driving, you ask about car seats.  So, too, you should ask if guns are present.  And not just for small children; this goes for homes with teenagers, too.
Sometimes I think Baldr is too nice to deal with the gun crowd? Does anyone else get that impression? In his post he goes on to say that if the answer is "no" it's one less thing you have to worry about as a parent. But, what if the answer is "yes?" And, considering some of our recent discussions about privacy, what if the answer is, "none of yer goddamn business?"

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

You could ask Xavier, another self-proclaimed expert who enjoys unquestioning support from the gun-blogging community.  Hint: it's not the magazine size.

Do Gunloons Believe Themselves?

Calling all gunloons..
Ok, so here's the thing.  Gunloons are against registration, right?  They're against anyone knowing or suspecting they like to fondle the hard, rigid cold steel against their soft, milky white flesh and...oh, where was I?

Anyway, gunloons demand privacy for their fetish.  Why?

The reason, ostensibly, that the US Government is one big tyranny bent on identifying and locating God-fearin', white, overweight males who don't date much (no, Mike W--cousins do not count) who have guns.  Because God-fearin', white, overweight males who don't date much (no, Mike W--cousins do not count) who have guns are the only thing that stands between us and....having our precious bodily fluids compromised or something.  That's the theory, anyway.

But here's what doesn't make sense:

Monday, February 21, 2011

"It's the Classic, Didn't See It Coming,"

Always seems to work this way:
A dispute over a family dog precipitated a shooting Sunday in Palatine that left two people dead, Palatine Police stated.

Edward Kuemper, 49, 1540 E. Reynolds Drive, shot 21-year-old Bradley Morrison at about 8:34 p.m. before turning the .40 caliber handgun on himself.

Cosmetics, Guns, Pathologies

Zombie Assault Weapon
Continued from here and here.

As I've sagely noted, an assault weapon is great for combat.  It fulfills many, if not all, of the requirements for a combat environment where a soldier is trying to quickly bring a lot of firepower to bear on a target on which he really hasn't a good visual.  The goal is to kill, incapacitate, or suppress the return fire of other armed combatants for as long as possible.

IOW, an assault weapon is really an indiscriminate weapon.

To a large extent, this is why military planners and leaders hate the idea of "police actions."  The military simply isn't designed, trained or equipped to perform missions where civilians are interspersed with combatants.  In short, the military is a hammer, not a scalpel.

Seattle Cop Cleared in Woodcarver Killing

When the story first broke we had some doubts about the legitimacy of the shooting.  The fact that the police officer involved has now been exonerated hasn't changed a thing, as far as I'm concerned.

The fact that he's resigned is something at least. I don't mind that he escapes jail, but he should forfeit his gun rights.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Utah: Double Murder - Suicide Attempt

In southern Utah, near the border of Nevada, you've got one of the worst areas in the country for domestic abuse. Over there, guns are bad news for women.
An apparent domestic dispute disrupted the calm of a Washington City neighborhood Friday, as horrified neighbors saw a mother and her son gunned down in their driveway about a block southeast of the city's Community Center.

Michelle Jones, 42, and Owen Christopher Ellis, 19, were killed at the scene and Jones' husband, Richard "Rick" Jones, 46, was later found with what appears to be a self-inflicted gun shot wound to the head, Washington City Chief of Public Safety Jim Keith said.

Rick Jones survived the shooting and was transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center, then to University Medical Center in Las Vegas where he was listed in critical condition Saturday night, UMC spokeswoman Danita Cohen said.
What's your opinion? Is there a down side to all that "freedom" they have out west?

Please leave a comment.

The Secret Life of Robert Farago

Rhode Island is considering a bill which would increase the secrecy of gun permit applicants.

If passed, the legislation would bar cities and towns from revealing the name, address and date of birth of anyone who applies for a license to carry a concealed pistol or revolver. Current state law bars municipalities from disclosing the identities of people who have ever been granted such permits either by the attorney general's office or cities or towns. This would close what advocates say is a loophole in public records law. 
Why do gun owners want this type of privacy? Don't they claim that owning a gun is just like owning any other type of property? What makes the concealed carry permit different from other types of licenses?

Please leave a comment.  

Florida Gun Dealer Jailed

The Miami herald reports.

A Florida gun dealer has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for selling parts to convert weapons into fully automatic machine guns.
Let's say you're a gun enthusiast. You own several guns and love to shoot them at ranges and, if you're lucky enough, in the desert or woods away from urban populations.

Wouldn't it be the most natural thing in the world to want to own automatic weapons? Wouldn't fully automatic guns enhance the fun and enjoyment you get from your arsenal? Don't many otherwise legitimate gun owners do this in the spirit of bad laws be damned?

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Should the Left Mock the Right

via Norwegianity

PZ Myers responds to Michael Lind's anti-mocking piece in Salon.


First, Lind’s charge of “constant mockery” is patently ridiculous. Rachel Maddow has committed some of the most astounding acts of journalism on a major cable network that a U.S. primetime audience could possibly hope to see. Maddow regularly does long, in-depth interviews over multiple segments for which she is extremely well-prepared, enough to swat away any bullshit a guest might dare to fling at her. Even Tweety has his moments. Lind’s implication that anyone on MSNBC fills all or even most of their airtime snickering over the jaw-droppingly stupid and inane bullshit that right-wing politicians and pundits say every day is simply absurd. I just cannot fathom how anyone — much less someone with a platform on Salon — could possibly be unaware that one can report on our devastated economy, or revolution in the Middle East, and also mock morons.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Big Victory for the Castle Doctrine Crowd

An incredible travesty of justice took place for the third time in the case of Tigh Croff. The first one was when he was allowed to be free on bail.  The second was when the charges were reduced from second degree murder to manslaughter and the third was when the judge sentenced Tigh to probation.

This man is a vigilante murderer.  I don't care if his house had been broken into a hundred times or how frustrated he was. Only the sickest extremists could possibly condone this.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Attempted Armed Robbery at Gun Store

In this video we hear a fairly good example of how gun owners should react to the possibility of killing a bad guy. I wish Jay G. and his tough-guy friends could learn something from this, but I'm afraid they're too far gone.

What's your opinion? Is this how most gun owners feel? Is all that silly talk on MArooned and other extremist gun blogs, calling armed robbers "goblins" and the like, the exception to the rule?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Ocala Woman (Strung out on Meth) Shoots Boyfriend

You see it in the movies a lot, where somebody's got a gun pointed at them and they try to diffuse the situation by saying "go ahead, shoot."

You should never do that when the lady looks like this one.

I wonder what they mean by "antique gun?"

Please leave a comment.

Maddow on Beck, Wisconsin and the Antichrist Theory

I dedicate this to Bob S.


Soros Responds to Beck

NewsBusters Attacks Good Morning America

Chris Brown of Media Matters wrote a wonderful article concerning the video interview of Mayor Bloomberg by George Stephanopoulos.  It seems NewsBusters didn't like the fact "that Stephanopoulos didn't call Bloomberg a liberal and that the interview included a shot of a billboard truck that FixGunChecks.org is currently driving across the nation."

Highlighting the inclusion of FixGunChecks.org's truck and discussing the issue of background checks for less than two minutes is pretty thin gruel for the "liberal media bias" that NewsBusters purports to expose. FixGunChecks.org exists to highlight two common-sense policies -- entering the names of all people prohibited from buying guns into the NICS, and requiring a background check for every gun sale in America -- that are widely popular among all Americans.
What's your opinion? Do you agree with Chris Brown that that was a pretty weak case for media bias? I myself have never been a big believer in the frequent pro-gun lament that the main stream is biased against them. To hear them tell it, you'd think there's a far-reaching conspiracy to make guns evil. What I think is most people are smarter than that, a fact that borne out by some of the other points Mr. Brown made.

Fixing the gaps in the government background check databases by adding missing records, which currently number over 2 million, is broadly popular according to a recent poll that shows 89 percent of Americans and 90 percent of gun-owning households support doing just that.  Closing loopholes that allow people to buy guns without a background check is also broadly popular,  86 percent of Americans and 81 percent of gun-owning households support requiring all gun buyers to pass a background check at gun shows. Even 69 percent of NRA members support requiring all sellers at gun shows to conduct criminal background checks. It seems that NewsBusters has its facts wrong in trying to paint these policies are "liberal."

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.