Saturday, April 14, 2012

The Best of the NRA Convention

Via TTAG where a wonderful discussion ensued.

Romney at the NRA Convention Making Slick Willy Seem Like a Straight Shooter


Courting skeptical gun owners, Mitt Romney told a National Rifle Association convention that their rights are under assault from President Barack Obama’s administration and they must help block his re-election.

“We need a president who will enforce current laws, not create new ones that only serve to burden lawful gun owners. President Obama has not; I will,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said in St. Louis yesterday at a gathering organizers say will draw about 65,000 through the weekend. 

“We need a president who will stand up for the rights of hunters, sportsmen and those who seek to protect their homes and their families,” he said. “President Obama has not; I will.”  

“I’m not a big-game hunter,” he said. “I’ve made it very clear, I’ve always been a, if you will, a rodent and rabbit hunter all right? Small, small varmints, if you will. And I began when I was, oh, 15 or so, and have hunted those kinds of varmints since then -- more than two times. I also hunted quail in Georgia, so I’ve -- it’s not really big-game hunting, if you will, however. It’s not deer and large animals. But I’ve hunted a number of times of various types of small rodents.”
Just little varmints, to use a word that all North-easterners use daily, that's all he's killed.

Isn't such transparent fence-straddling offensive to both sides. Is that supposed to appease the real hunters while not totally putting off the animal rights folks?

This isn't even a smart strategy. If the racist white conservatives weren't so desperate to rid the country of Obama, this approach would be laughed at. It should be laughed at, it's pathetic.

Here's the test though. Are the NRA types as numerous as they say? I mean the ones completely under the ether? The convention is a gathering of 60,000 passionate members, but how representative are they of the whole?

I predict Obama by a landslide. What do you think?

Romney Courts the NRA


The News Tribune reports

Running for the Senate in Massachusetts, Mitt Romney once assured voters in a state with strong gun-control laws: “I don’t line up with the NRA.” Now the likely Republican presidential nominee, Romney will headline the National Rifle Association’s annual convention in today and assure tens of thousands of gun-rights activists he’s squarely on their side. 

Coming just days after rival Rick Santorum dropped out of the nomination race, the NRA convention in St. Louis provides Romney an opportunity to shore up his credentials with an important conservative constituency that badly wants to oust Democratic President Barack Obama.
What's your opinion? Are the NRA members so stupid that they can't see through this phony baloney politician? Are they so desperate to beat Obama that they'll even overlook Romney's flip-flopping?

Yes, I'm afraid that explains it. They're not stupid but they are desperate. And what's driving that? Racism, of course. Those fat white men at the NRA convention represent a big swath of America, and they've had just about enough of the first black president.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

The Modesto Shootout - 3 Dead



Kodiak Island Double Murder - Mystery Shooter


Fox News reports

Fear that a killer was on the loose spread among residents of an island off Alaska's mainland Friday, with no suspect identified more than 24 hours after someone shot to death two people at a Coast Guard communications station.

"We don't have stuff like that happen here," said Wendy Cavender, a bartender at the B&B bar in Kodiak, a city about eight miles from the Coast Guard base on Kodiak Island. "All anybody knows is that there is a shooter and that person might still be at large."
What do you think? I guess we need more info, huh? Please leave a comment.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Armed while Old, Fat, White and Crabby?

Reposted from Penigma.

ALEC represents corporate and other special interests. It DOES NOT reflect the problems of a state, much less desirable solutions. It does not represent the citizens of that state and their wishes. It co-opts and corrupts the function of representative government, it erodes and overturns the fundamental concept of government of the people, by the people, for the people by replacing it with legislation by and for outside special interests, and corporate profits over people.

I found this hypothetical situation in the title particularly apt; I grew up with a swimming pool. We would occasionally find unauthorized people doing precisely this - taking a dip, and not always late night either. Our response tended to be to politely tell the intruders to please leave, and to call the local police if they did not comply (that happened precisely twice). And while waiting for the police to arrive, we turned the family dog loose in the pool enclosure -- to BARK, not bite -- which was quite sufficient to persuade the unwelcome swimmers to leave when a polite request was not. In each case, the trespassers were young and male, the age of Trayvon Martin or younger. The notion of involving a gun in those interactions is preposterous -- but it is what happens under Shoot First laws.

I was particularly struck by the last lines of the piece below, because the exclusively conservative legislators who introduced the legislation appear to have used the same ALEC model bill template that shows up in every other state with these laws, and are all alleged to have ALEC ties:

But some legislators said they wondered who those constituents were, other than the N.R.A. The Castle Doctrine legislation, they said, was one of a series of bills that seemed to appear out of nowhere as part of some national agenda, rather than arising from concerns of Wisconsin residents. Janet Bewley, a Democrat in northern Wisconsin who voted for the concealed carry bill but against the self-defense law, said, “I never heard anyone in this state crying out, ‘We must have the Castle Doctrine.’ ”


Because of the allegations that ALEC is inherently corrupt -- using public office for private gain -- and because of the attempts at secrecy, I do not believe that the legislators who introduced the Shoot First law in Wisconsin are being fully candid and honest. I'd love to see the press FOIA those legislators who proposed this bill, and who voted for it, requiring them to produce all information relating to ALEC.
If it is so innocent, put it out in the open for your constituents to SEE, for themselves.

I'd like to see the same thing happen in Minnesota.

From the New York Times by way of MSN:
NRA gathers amid growing storm over gun laws

'If someone takes a late-night dip in your swimming pool, does that mean you should shoot them?' Wis. state senator says

By
updated 4/13/2012 6:13:34 AM ET2012-04-13T10:13:34
No one had yet heard of a Florida teenager named Trayvon Martin when a group of Wisconsin Republicans got together last year to discuss expanding a self-defense bill before the State Legislature.
The bill, known as the Castle Doctrine, made it harder to prosecute or sue people who used deadly force against intruders inside their houses.
New York Times caption: Jeff Nass is the president
of WI-Force,
a gun rights group in Wisconsin
that works with the National Rifle Association.
My observation - these groups are always
formed by fat old crabby white guys with guns
trying to look stern and important.
Mostly, they just look constipated and impotent.
But the Wisconsin legislators, urged on by the National Rifle Association in a series of meetings, wanted it to go further. They shaped an amendment that extended the bill’s protections to include lawns, sidewalks and swimming pools outside the residences, as well as vehicles and places of business.
That expanded bill, passed with little debate by the Legislature and signed in December by Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, is the newest of more than two dozen so-called Stand Your Ground statutes that have been enacted around the country in recent years.
Those laws are now coming under increased scrutiny after Mr. Martin was shot to death by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch coordinator, in late February. Similar legislation is pending in several other states, including Alaska, Massachusetts and New York.
Though the laws vary in their specifics and scope, they expand beyond the home the places where a person does not have a duty to retreat when threatened, and they increase protection from criminal prosecution and civil liability. All contain elements of the 2005 Florida statute that made it difficult to immediately arrest Mr. Zimmerman, who has said he shot Mr. Martin, who was unarmed, in self-defense.
Zimmerman expected to take stand in Martin murder case

Critics see the laws as part of a national campaign by the National Rifle Association, which began gathering on Thursday in St. Louis for its annual meeting, to push back against limits on gun ownership and use.
That effort, they say, has been assisted by conservative legislators in states like Wisconsin, and by the American Legislative Exchange Council, which has promoted model legislation based on Florida’s law; the council, known as ALEC, is a conservative networking organization made up of legislators, corporations like Walmart, a large retailer of long guns, and interest groups like the rifle association.
The success of the campaign is reflected in the rapid spread of expanded self-defense laws as well as laws that legalize the carrying of concealed weapons.
Only one state, Illinois, and the District of Columbia now ban that practice, compared with 19 states in 1981. Bills pending in several states that would allow concealed weapons to be carried on college campuses, in churches, in bars or at other sites would further weaken restrictions, as would either of two federal bills, now in the Senate, that would require that a permit for carrying a concealed weapon that was granted by any state be honored in all other states.
“Both directly and with cutouts like ALEC, the N.R.A. is slowly and surely and methodically working at the state level to expand the number and kind and category of places where people can carry concealed, loaded weapons and use them with deadly force,” said Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a bipartisan coalition of more than 650 mayors that has not taken a position on the Stand Your Ground laws.
Repeated requests to speak with N.R.A. officials about Wisconsin’s law or Stand Your Ground laws more generally met with no response.
Political influenceIn Wisconsin, as in other states, the passage of an expanded self-defense law was helped by the 2010 elections, which vaulted conservative Republicans into office. In Pennsylvania, for example, a Stand Your Ground law passed the Legislature in 2010 but was vetoed by Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat. Introduced again last year, the bill was signed by his Republican successor, Tom Corbett.
In Wisconsin, a narrower version of the legislation had languished and died in previous sessions. But with a Republican governor and Republicans dominating both houses of the Legislature, several state lawmakers said that the success of the bill and the expansion amendment promoted by the N.R.A. seemed assured.
“I think it’s only normal they assumed this could be their year,” said Representative Dean Kaufert, a Republican who introduced the legislation, speaking of the rifle association.
Prosecutors: Zimmerman provoked confrontation with Martin
Darren LaSorte, a lobbyist for the rifle association, wanted the legislation, like Florida’s law, to extend protection to any place where a person had a legal right to be, said several Republican lawmakers who met with Mr. LaSorte. But having been successful in getting an earlier bill passed to allow the carrying of concealed weapons, Mr. LaSorte accepted a compromise.
“It was almost a ‘we’ll take what we can get’ kind of mode,” Mr. Kaufert said. In its final form, the law contained language that closely tracked some parts of the Florida bill.

In a legislative alert on its Web site, the N.R.A. asked members to “please express your support for this critically important self-defense legislation” and for “N.R.A.-recommended amendments to these bills in order to make the final product a stronger law.” The bill, the association said in the alert, “ensures that you don’t have to second-guess yourself when defending your home from intruders.”
Further, it said, “It also provides civil immunity for good citizens who are acting defensively against violence.”
Last year, the N.R.A. spent $97,701 and 627 hours lobbying or engaging in other activities in Wisconsin on behalf of the self-defense law and the concealed carry law, according to the State Legislature Web site.
But as in other states, the most powerful weapon the rifle association wielded in Wisconsin was political, not financial. In a state with more than 620,000 registered hunters, the ratings the association gives to legislators could have significant impact on their political fortunes, particularly in the northern part of the state.
“A lot of politicians are apprehensive to go against the initiatives of the National Rifle Association,” said Representative Nick Milroy, a Democrat from northern Wisconsin who voted for the concealed carry bill but against the Castle Doctrine. “For a lot of people who are very particular about their gun rights, anything less than an ‘A’ rating is an antigun stance.”
Senator Jon Erpenbach, a Democrat, called the bill a substantial victory for the N.R.A. in the Midwest, where guns have a less central place, say, than Texas. “The N.R.A. did very well for themselves in Wisconsin,” he said.
Legislators: Who wanted the doctrine?Mr. Erpenbach said he would have voted for the original self-defense bill, which placed a heavier burden on prosecutors in self-defense cases but limited the protection to inside a residence. But he drew the line at the amendment expanding the legislation, he said.
“Who in their right mind could be asking for something like this?” he said he remembers thinking when the measure hit the Senate floor, amendment attached. “If someone takes a late-night dip in your swimming pool, does that mean you should shoot them?”
The fact that the amendment was added by the Assembly Committee on Judiciary and Ethics after the public hearing on the bill, he and others said, prevented it from getting much public attention. And with challenges to collective bargaining, requirements for voter identification and other controversial proposals before them, legislators had a lot on their minds.
“There wasn’t a tremendous amount of debate,” Mr. Erpenbach said.
In fact, at the public hearing, some groups expressed strong opposition even to the far more restricted language of the original legislation. Gregory O’Meara, speaking for the Wisconsin Bar Association’s criminal division, said that the division’s judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers unanimously opposed the bill as unnecessary and potentially problematic. Wisconsin’s existing law, he said, was already stronger than most states, placing the burden of proof on the prosecution to show that a person was not acting in self-defense.
Video: Zimmerman enters not guilty plea (on this page)Jeff Nass, president of WI-Force, a Wisconsin gun rights group that works with the N.R.A., and who carries a Glock 20 semiautomatic handgun at all times — “It’s a large pistol, but I’m a large person,” he said — testified in favor of the bill.
Prosecutors and law professors, Mr. Nass said in a phone interview, “can sit back and analyze in the safety of their chambers what you did and if you did the right thing, but if I kick down your door in the middle of the night, are you going to be worried about it?”
Representative Scott Suder, the Republican majority leader, participated in meetings to shape the amendment and said the bill’s expansion was not “driven by any group or organization” but came at the urging of other legislators and their constituents.
“We came up with a compromise that did include your car in addition to your home, and that was a fair compromise,” Mr. Suder said. “We didn’t go as far as some wanted to.”
But some legislators said they wondered who those constituents were, other than the N.R.A. The Castle Doctrine legislation, they said, was one of a series of bills that seemed to appear out of nowhere as part of some national agenda, rather than arising from concerns of Wisconsin residents.
Janet Bewley, a Democrat in northern Wisconsin who voted for the concealed carry bill but against the self-defense law, said, “I never heard anyone in this state crying out, ‘We must have the Castle Doctrine.’ ”
This story, "N.R.A.’s Influence Seen in Expansion of Self-Defense Laws", originally appeared in The New York Times.

Live free and die

This story:

http://gma.yahoo.com/hampshire-suspects-found-dead-police-chief-killed-shootout-104737703--abc-news-topstories.html

 out of Greenland,NH a few miles from about 6 towns that I've lived in between 1973 and 2006. 

KKKrazzeefucks wit teh gunz.

Rachel Maddow talks with Governor Dan Malloy

via Fuck Conservatives


Murder or Manslaughter

via The Futility Closet

On May 31, 1964, Cyril Church beat Sylvia Nott into unconsciousness. Thinking he’d killed her, he dumped her body in a river, where she drowned.

Is this murder? The deliberate act wasn’t fatal, and the fatal act wasn’t deliberate. “His case is that he genuinely and honestly believed that she was dead,” Justice Glyn Jones told the jury. “I direct you that, if that was his genuine and honest belief, then when he threw what he believed to be a dead body into the river, he obviously was not actuated by any intention to cause death or grievous bodily harm; you cannot cause death or serious bodily harm to a corpse.”

They convicted Church of manslaughter.

Black-Powder Accident

"Muzzle Loader Explosion" OK, the title of this is wrong!, actually what happens in this video is the guy leaves his powder container open and shoots over it with an inline rifle, setting it off. The Muzzle loader DOES NOT explode. Let this be a good reminder to CLOSE YOUR POWDER CONTAINERS after measuring out the powder. Way to help the ban all guns movement "bro"!



Chicago Homicides Up 60% in first Quarter 2012


Fox News reports

Homicides in Chicago spiked by 60 percent during the first three months of the year despite an increase in police resources in some of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods, according to new police crime statistics.

Of the 120 homicides, 101 involved shootings, police said.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has pushed for other restrictions, including a bill working its way through the Illinois House that would require handgun owners throughout the state to register their weapons.

Ludwig said that could give police an important tool to potentially track weapons beyond their initial sale at legal gun shops as they change hands on the currently unregulated secondary market.

"Registration gives you a way to hold gun owners accountable for what they do with their guns," he said. 

"... Everything that happens after the first purchase in most places is just invisible. Nobody's got to keep track of anything legally."
Since everyone agrees criminals don't obey the laws, isn't it about time we focused our efforts on the source of those guns used by criminals? Rahm Emanuel has a good idea but of course the self-serving gun rights activists will fight him tooth and nail.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Jon Stewart on the Santorum Concession

Connecticut Becomes 17th State to Abolish the Death Penalty

Qui transtulit sustinet

Translation of the motto Qui Transtulit Sustinet has be variously defined as "He Who Transplanted Still Sustains" and "He Who Transplanted Continues to Sustain". As the story of the battles in Lexinton and Concord spread throughout the colonies, local militias prepared. In an April 23, 1775 letter stamped in Whethersfield, Connecticut, it was written, "We fix on our Standards and Drums the Colony arms, with the motto, Qui Transtulit Sustinet, round it in letters of gold, which we construe thus: God, who transplanted us hither, will support us."


Sigillum Reipublicae Connecticutensis

The Seal of the Republic of Connecticut. Does that mean the considered themselves a Republic? Was that the same as a State? Fascinating stuff.



Connecticut has become the 17th state to repeal the death penalty, with lawmakers voting 86-62 on the measure after a marathon debate that stretched into the night and revived memories of some of the state's most heinous crimes.

Gov. Dannel Malloy has said he will sign the bill, which passed the House on Wednesday night, six days after the Senate approved it. The bill replaces capital punishment with life in prison without the possibility of parole, but it only applies to future cases and has no effect on the 11 men on death row in Connecticut.
I must admit, as much as I applaud this decision, it's a bit disheartening that the right to carry concealed weapons with no permit is increasing faster than the abolition of capital punishment.

But, I have hope that the one will come back around in Obama's second term, and that gradually more and more states will move themselves into the 21st century which has no room for revenge killings and state sanctioned murder.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of Baltimore 13-Year-Old - Charges Forthcoming




I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of this thing. In accidental shootings the chances of the responsible person being punished runs like this, in descending order.

1. Black guy with scary tattoos
2. Black guy
3. White guy
4. White guy who happens to be a policeman

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Another Gun Death in Washington State - Possible Accident



How often have we heard that one, this is a quiet neighborhood, this kind of thing just doesn't happen around here?

"Incubus" Starring the Great and Versatile William Shatner

He'll go down in history for Star Trek TOS (The Original Series), but the bredth of his talent is sometimes overlooked becasue of that schlock TV he did later. From Braodway Shows to extremely funny video parodies, William Shatner is a great talent.

For me, one of his greatest claims to fame came even before Star Trek in the film Incubus. It's the only movie shot entirely in the language Esperanto.



Thursday, April 12, 2012

Somebody say something about wealth redistribution?

Nothing like a little bit of the old Reverse Robin Hood (Rob from the poor to give to the rich):

The Conversion of Gun Control Advocates



My comment:

The photo image seems to me a perfect amalgam of the fanatical gun-rights guy who also happens to be a religious nut. Unfortunately, they are legion, and particularly dangerous because they can justify the worst nonsense. Naturally, Robert offered his patented blah-blah-blah justifications which the readership just loved.

About the conversion of formerly anti-gun people by taking them to the shooting range, Robert offered this: “Within minutes, they realize that operating a gun appeals to both their lizard and their leftist—I mean rational mind.” I suppose that’s an example of making assertions which are not backed up by facts. But, I actually don’t mind that kind of thing.

The fact is, there are some, myself included, who went the other way. I have no way of knowing which type is more numerous, but for sure the ones like me offset to some degree those who are converted.

As to the reason why, the suggestion that “They discover that you can shoot a gun without turning into a spree killer,” is a silly oversimplification. In addition to this realization, they also experience the power and thrill of firing a weapon, they feel that particular and unique kind of exhiliration for the first time. They are empowered. Whatever feelings of powerlessness they may have had disappear, replaced immediately by the illusory fantasy of finally having the possibility of being safe and without fear.

These are the things that people find attractive. The more fearful and insecure one is, the more appealing these things are.

Indiana Gun Sales Skyrocketing




What is causing this? Some gun store owners say it is a lingering concern over a perceived push by President Obama for tougher gun control laws – particularly as he campaigns for reelection – even though Obama has been largely silent on the issue of gun control.

But experts say the popularity of TV reality shows such as “Top Shot” and “Sons of Guns” also likely plays a role.
We all know many gun owners are shaking in their boots about Obama's second term. For this we can thank Wayne La Pierre. But do you think these new popular TV shows are partly responsible? Isn't it possible that shows like these give many people the idea that guns are cool and fun, people who otherwise might not have felt that way?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Zimmerman - 2nd Degree Murder


"We did not come to this decision lightly," she said, declining to discuss specifics of the investigation. "We do not prosecute by pressure or petition ... We're law enforcement. We enforce the law.

We prosecute based on the facts of any given case"

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

More For the Semper Paratus Crowd


via Oh Gizmo

The above dagger is called the Jagdkommando Integral Tri-Dagger Fixed Blade Knife. It’s salient feature is that its impressive looking try-edged blade twists, so that you don’t have to. See, it’s one thing to stab something, but if you really want to go for the kill, you twist that blade around when it’s in there. This dagger saves you a step. It also doubles as a glass breaker, with the sheath becoming the breaker’s handle. It’s an impressive looking piece of kit.

For the Semper Paratus Crowd

via Neatorama - what every seriously prepared manly man with a gun needs.

Gun Crime in the US

via The Guardian complete with interactive maps

How bad is gun crime in the US? The latest data from the FBI's uniform crime reports is out and it provides a fascinating picture of the use of firearms in crimes across America.

At the beginning of the year the shooting spree in Tucson, Arizona, that targeted congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords left six dead, including a nine-year-old child. But since then, the issue has been given scant attention.

However, the figures themselves are astounding for Brits used to around 600 murders per year. In 2010 - the latest year for which detailed statistics are available - there were 12,996 murders in the US. Of those, 8,775 were caused by firearms.

The FBI crime statistics are based on reports to FBI bureau and local law enforcement. The figures are not complete - there are no stats for Florida on firearm murders and the data for Illinois is "incomplete". But even so it provides a detailed picture of attacks by state.

Accidental Shooting of Spokane 10-Year-Old Cop's Daughter - Of Course No Charges




The Seattle Times reports

The 10-year-old daughter of a veteran Spokane police officer was in stable condition after shooting herself in the leg on Easter with her father's duty weapon, authorities said.

Officer Barry O'Connell, an 18-year veteran of the Police Department, has taken time off to care for his daughter. When he returns, he will be assigned to desk duty while an investigation by Spokane County sheriff's detectives is under way, police said.

It's hard to see the degree of recklessness that must go into a story like this in a picture. Maybe if you talked to the guy it would show. How could ANY gun owner EVER allow something like this to happen? I honestly cannot fathom it.

As inexplicable as it is, one thing we can conclude is that it does happen, and that it happens too often.

The solution is certainly not to throw up our hands and say accidents will always happen and there's nothing we can do about it.  That's what the gun-rights folks want.  The solution is twofold, first we need better screening and training and secondly we need to swiftly and severely punish those found wanting.

Loss of gun rights is the first thing that should happen, after due process of law, of course. Although some may learn from their mistakes, those who have proven to be capable of such stupidity should never have a chance to repeat it.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Get It While You Can - Janis Joplin

Forget about Aretha and forget about Billie Holiday, Janis is the greatest that ever lived.

There's something extremely poignant about a talented person, who died at 27, singing a song like this.


Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Sick Gun Owners Just Yuckin' It Up For Easter




Minnesota Home Day Care - 3 Dead



A mother who had a suspicious feeling after she dropped off her toddler at a home day care Monday returned to the house a few minutes later to make a grisly discovery: three adults inside, shot dead.

The woman's child was unhurt and no other children were at the day care at the time. Police had made no arrests by Monday evening and were seeking a suspect in his mid-20s, believed to have fled on a BMX bicycle.

An Army Under the Influence



"The pharmacy consultant for the Army surgeon general says the military's use of the drugs is comparable to that in the civilian world. "It's not that we're using them more frequently or any differently," said Col. Carol Labadie. "As with any medication, you have to look at weighing the risk versus the benefits of somebody going on a medication."
The first problem that comes to mind with the Colonel's justification is the army is comprised of young healthy men. This is not a demographic that should be compared to the civilian population at large. Young healthy people don't need the medications for stress or anything else that their older counterparts might.

The second thing is this. During Viet Nam illegal drug abuse was rampant. Heroin was extremely cheap and extremely available. Many used it to cope with the stress. The same must be true in Afghanistan today where a single dose of the drug costs 20 cents. Although we don't hear about it, I would imagine in addition to the awful prescription drug abuse, there's a good bit of illegal substance abuse as well.

What's your opinion?  Is the military keeping these things under wraps? Are they not only using our young men as cannon fodder but drugging them along the way?  Would this account for some of the terrible reports of high suicide rates?

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

More on the Intentional Homicide Rate


click to make bigger

"Mark My Words" Says Wayne La Pierre


Hunting Accident Leaves Woman Seriously Hurt - Charges Possible



Local Boston News reports

The four-month investigation into the incident from New Year's Eve has been turned over to the Massachusetts Environmental Police after an initial investigation by the Norton Police Department.

Police said Cheryl Blair, 66, was walking her dogs in the woods behind her home when she was accidentally shot by an off-duty state police trooper who was deer hunting. The bullet shattered her left pelvis.

MEP spokesman Reggie Zimmerman said Blair and off-duty state trooper John Bergeron have both been interviewed by police.

Bergeron said he mistook one of the golden retrievers Blair was walking for a deer's tail.

It's often about failure to follow the 4 Rules of Gun Safety. Is there any excuse for a gun owner to do that? Is it acceptable to just say "oops," and forget about it? Is it acceptable to just say "oops," feel real remorse and then forget about it?

No, I don't think so. For gun nigligence, especially when it hurts other people, the gun owner has to forfeit his gun rights. It's only fair. One strike you're out.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Murder in Van Nuys - Gun Used



Accidental Shooting of Maryland 6-Year-Old - Charges Pending


A 6-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed himself in a quiet neighborhood of single-family homes in the Clinton area Monday afternoon, and Prince George’s County homicide detectives are considering filing charges against a 20-year-old who lived with the boy and apparently brought the gun to the house, authorities said.

Although the criminal investigation is in its early stages, detectives think that the 6-year-old found the revolver in a backpack belonging to a 20-year-old who also lived in the Arbutus Lane home, police said. That 20-year-old, Davis said, does not appear to be a relative of the boy, and detectives are probing his relationship to the boy’s family.
Every day, day after day. The pro gun response is that accidents will always happen, just like criminals will always get guns. They would have us do nothing about it lest it cause them a bit of inconvenience.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Monday, April 9, 2012

tEh CriMnulz, thEy'll allUS haz teH gunz!!

From that bastion of the Liebral Media, the WSJ, we get a story about four cops injured in a shootout with a bad guy (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303815404577331922139038122.html?mod=new_york_newsreel)

So, yes the badboyz will always get teh gunz, expeshly if they go to another state and buy them without any sort of background check. 

Intentional Homicide Rate - Who's Worse the UK or the US?


Year 2010, per 100,000

United States 4.8

Unted Kingdom 1.23


I think we've heard just about enough UK comparisons. The pro-gun crowd cannot control themselves from repeating over and over again what they think supports their argument.

There would be many factors to account for this tremendous difference, but for my money, gun availability is one of them.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of Kentucky Man by Himself - He's Dead


The victim's son told News 5 the man was walking down a staircase while carrying a gun when he fell, causing the gun to fire.

The bullet struck the man in the head, killing him. His name has not been released.
Now, wait a minute. If there are five of these stories in the main stream news every day, which I can assure you there are, that's 1,800 a year right there. How many more do you think there are that don't make it to the national headlines, maybe 5 times as many, maybe 10.

That would be 9,000 or 19,000 each year. Yet, our gun rights friends keep quoting figures much lower than that from supposedly reliable statistical sources.

What can explain the discrepancy? We're talking about only "accidents" now. What can explain such a great discrepancy that the pro gun folks can keep saying they represent a tiny percentage.

It doesn't seem so tiny to me.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

Mayor Bloomberg on the Background Check System


The New York Daily News reports

Across the country, more than 80% of gun owners support simple fixes to the background check system that would help stop the flow of guns to criminals. The ideologues who run the gun lobby don’t want us to know that, but it’s true.

Americans of both parties support common-sense steps that would save lives and protect our police. But the gun lobby doesn’t, and it has scared Washington silent.
This is the most unconscionable part of the pro-gun resistance. What used to be called "the gun show loophole," and is probably better referred to as "the private sale loophole," is only part of it. Bloomberg's plan is not only to require background checks on all gun transfers but to ensure that the data base which is used in those checks is more reliable.

Incomplete reporting to the national data base especially regarding mental health cases is sorely in need of repair. Even, in many cases, misdemeanor domestic abuse and felony convictions are not entered in a timely manner.

This is the first of the three weaknesses in the system which needs to be corrected, the other two being straw purchasing and theft.

Everyone agrees criminals should not have guns. This is one way to do something about it.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Richmond VA Man Arrested in NYC With a Gun

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports

Police say they have arrested a 26-year-old Richmond man who was trying to enter a Times Square subway station with a loaded handgun tucked into his waistband.

Travis Marks was arrested at 42nd Street Friday evening during rush hour after New York City officers Mohammed Ahmed and Adam England say they saw him enter the subway station illegally.

Police say Marks tried to toss a plastic bag with a white powdery substance, possibly drugs, and they arrested him. Police say they found a loaded, 9mm semi-automatic handgun in his waistband.

Marks was arrested on charges of criminal possession of a weapon.

In spite of all the crying on the part of gun-rights activists, Bloomberg's New York City works pretty well with regards gun laws. Remember the Tennessee nurse and the Indiana Marine who got slaps on the wrist for the same charge?

How much you want to bet this Virginia boy does a little time?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

More on the Oklahoma Hate Crime Shootings


CNN reports on the story democommie posted yesterday

Police are investigating whether the shootings of five African-Americans in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were a hate crime after the weekend arrests of two white suspects in the case, local authorities said Sunday.

Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 32, are scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning. Tulsa police arrested them early Sunday after a series of tips that led investigators to England's burned pickup, a vehicle that matched a description reported at the crime scenes, according to their arrest reports.
What do you think, sound like a hate crime? And still no mention if they were lawful gun owners or if the older one had a CCW permit.

Please leave a comment.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Gunz & racizm

Oklahoma, where the gunz are blazin' the streets...

This sortathang (http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/08/us/oklahoma-shootings/index.html) is what happens when you haz teh gunz and are a racizt.

Oklahoma does have a "Castle Doctrine" law modeled on Floridas, although it doesn't appear to be quite as much a statewide perphuntin' license.

Them two boyz get theyselvez a good shyster (they look pretty broke so the NRA may have to fund their defense)  he might be able to get 'em off by claiming that the people they shot attempted to attack them while they were asking for directions.  Of course he could also use the GCSIOOPGDFBS* defense; I mean, what's a few less of THEM matter?

I don't know if the cops tested the two gentz they arrested for cuts and bruises that might have been inflicted on them by the people that they had to use deadly force against.

Happy Easter!

*   Greg Camp Statistically Insignificant Occurence Of People Getting Dead From Being Shot

David Horsey on the Stand Your Ground Laws




To stifle any incipient sense of security, gun-rights advocates have been busy inventing new laws to solve problems that do not exist. The now-controversial "stand your ground" law in Florida is a fine example of this. Before the legislation was passed, nobody had gotten into serious trouble for using a gun to rightfully defend himself in the Sunshine State. Nevertheless, with the urging of the NRA, the Florida Legislature became the first in the nation to pass a law guaranteeing citizens the right to start shooting instead of running if they feel threatened.

Since the law took effect, the number of Florida gun owners killing someone and successfully claiming justifiable homicide has tripled. This means either that a lot of people had been running away before or that quite a few people are now exploiting the law to bump somebody off and then claim self-defense.
Don't you love that point? Justified homicides tripled. Do you think that many Florida gun owners were retreating before? Does that make sense to you?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

New Jersey Man Fires Nail into Heart and Lives



Dennis Hennis, a 52-year-old self-employed builder, was working on his neighbour's roof when his nail gun jammed and he tried to clear it.

The nail pierced the right side of his heart and he went into cardiac arrest.

His surgeon credited Mr Hennis' recovery to prompt medical attention and knowing that he should not remove the nail himself.
Remember the nail-in-the-brain guy? What's wrong with these people? Am I the only one who sees a problem with guys like this owning and operating weapons? If they can't safely handle nail guns, what could possibly make us think they would do better with real guns?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of Philly 4-Year-Old - Mother to be Interviewed


A four-year-old Philadelphia boy was in critical condition and undergoing emergency surgery Saturday night after he found a gun beneath his mother's pillow and shot himself in the chest, police said.

The rowhouse block is a draw for first-time homebuyers. Asked if it was the kind of place where residents felt the need to keep firearms by their bedsides, the neighbor said it was nothing of the sort - neither a target of vandals or nor of violent criminals.

In fact, the neighbor said, the nearest police station is two blocks away and visible from residents' front stoops. "Our neighborhood's quiet," the neighbor said. "Everybody looks out for everybody."
I suppose if she owned the gun legally and were the right color, there'd be no need for charges. It was just an accident, after all. But, you never know.

Don't you find that often a white, lawful gun owner gets away with this kind of thing, while his black counterpart does not? There are exceptions, I realize, which is one of the problems. Punishment for this kind of negligence should be standardized and consistent.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.