For the time being the blog will be closed. What happened is I went back to work after being retired for four years and have found it a bit overwhelming. I suppose I might adjust and get back in the saddle, but I'm not sure. One reason I hesitate is that I've enjoyed the break too much.
I would like to thank all who've participated. Even my most antagonistic commenters have earned a warm place in my heart, believe it or not.
For now, I wish you all the best.
Mike
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Carnage and Cravenness: Gun Violence In America
Link
"These tragedies occur because, despite the wishes of the vast majority, our efforts to control the flow of weapons are among the most feeble in the world. So there is something else which must be said, out of respect to Carlos Miller and the countless others who have died for no good reason."
"These tragedies occur because, despite the wishes of the vast majority, our efforts to control the flow of weapons are among the most feeble in the world. So there is something else which must be said, out of respect to Carlos Miller and the countless others who have died for no good reason."
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Saturday, January 30, 2016
U.S. Shootings Since 1963 Have Killed More Americans Than All Wars Ever
Here's what PolitiFact discovered:
- From the Revolutionary War through December 2014, 1.2 million Americans have died in military conflicts, according to the Congressional Research Service.
- A 2012 report by a Binghamton University historian estimated a 20 percent higher death toll from the Civil War, which would push total deaths in military conflicts to 1.4 million.
- By contrast, domestic gun deaths from 1968 to 2014 add up to nearly 1.5 million.
- Some 63 percent of those gun deaths were suicides, and 33 percent were homicides.
- PolitiFact could not find data for gun deaths before 1968. Add in the missing years, and the total number of firearm fatalities since JFK's death would surely be higher than 1.5 million.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Air Force tells brass they can OK guns on base, citing 2015 shooting that left 5 dead
Fox News
A review of active shooter cases by the Air Force has confirmed what gun rights advocates have long been saying: Firearms in the hands of good guys are often the best bet for stopping massacres.
The military branch earlier this month sent out a letter to its base commanders around the nation reminding them that they can authorize subordinates to carry guns, even while off-duty and out of uniform. It also established three programs to help ensure that armed service members are in a position to protect their bases.
"None of these programs gives the installation commander authorizations they didn't already have the authorization to do," Maj. Keith Quick, the Air Force Security Forces Integrated Defense action officer, said in a statement according to Military.com. "We are now formalizing it and telling them how they can use these types of programs more effectively."
Let's see. Fox News is reporting it and John Lott is endorsing the idea. Hahahahaha“Finally, someone in the federal government is recognizing what has been obvious to sheriffs and police across the country...”- John Lott, Crime Prevention Research Center
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Tennessee 7-Year-old Shot and Killed by His 8-Year-old Brother - Charges? Well Maybe, Eventually
Local news
The chief of the Crossville Police Dept. says a 7-year-old boy found shot inside a car in a parking lot Monday has died.
Officers say four children had been left in the car while their mother and step-father were inside the building a short distance away, paying a bill. The mother also left her purse with a loaded semi-automatic pistol inside.
Police say the boy's 8-year-old brother tried to unload the weapon by removing the magazine when the gun discharged, "accidentally" fired, hitting the 7-year-old boy in the head.
The boy was flown to UT Medical Center's trauma center for treatment, where he died.
Authorities say the incident appears to be an accident. The family is from the Sparta-area, in White County.
The chief of police says they will turn their findings over to the district attorney general. The Department of Children's Services is also working on the case.
Monday, January 25, 2016
Mississippi Shootout at a Gun Store Over $25 - Two Dead, Two Wounded
Local news
The owner's wife was working at the store when two customers, a man and his son, entered to pick up a firearm that had been repaired.
"There was some contention about a $25 fee," Tucker said.
In an attempt to clear up the dispute, the woman called her husband, who later arrived with his son. An argument ensued between the owners and the customers.
"During this argument, we believe there might have been some pushing and shoving," Tucker said. "One of the customers and one of the owners produced firearms. We don't know who shot first."
All four men were shot. The two customers were airlifted to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, Tucker said.
North Carolina Good Samaritan fatally shot by man he was trying to help
A Claremont man was in the Catawba County Jail on Saturday charged with murder after he allegedly fatally shot a good Samaritan who was trying to help him after his car spun out on an icy road in the Bandys community, Sheriff Coy Reid said.
The car driven by Marvin Jacob Lee, 27, of Claremont in northeastern Catawba County, was stuck off Mathis Church Road when a passing truck with three men stopped to help about 5:20 p.m. Friday, Reid said.
Marvin Jacob Lee Catawba County Sheriff’s Department
Nearby neighbors came to help, too.
But when Lee allegedly became belligerant, the Samaritans decided to call police to come help him. “They thought he was drunk or on dope and said ‘let’s just call the law and let them deal with it,’ ” Reid said.
As they called, Lee took out an automatic pistol and started shooting. The Samaritans ran. A bullet struck the victim, who fell. Reid said Lee walked to the man, stood over him and shot him “numerous times.” Reid identified the victim as Jefferson Heavner, 26, of Newton.
Lee returned to his car, as deputies arrived. They shouted for him to get out. When he didn’t, they called a SWAT team, which pulled their armored truck up to Lee’s car. “They saw that he was passed out,” Reid said.
SWAT members physically pulled Lee from his car. He awoke as they struggled to pull him out and tried to resist, Reid said.
Trump's Controversial Shooting Remark
TRUMP: I could stand in the middle of 5th ave, shoot somebody & I wouldn't lose any voters, it is incredible. pic.twitter.com/J1YusVK84A
— Kylie Atwood (@kylieatwood) 23 Gennaio 2016Saturday, January 23, 2016
Friday, January 22, 2016
[Way] More than 800 Deaths At the Hands of Concealed Carry Killers Since 2007, VPC Research Shows
Concealed handgun permit holders are responsible for at least 849 deaths not involving self defense since 2007, including 29 mass shootings that killed 139 people, ongoing research from the Violence Policy Center (VPC) finds. Since there is no comprehensive recordkeeping of fatal incidents perpetrated by concealed carry permit holders, this tally most likely represents a small fraction of the actual total.
Details on these fatal incidents can be found on Concealed Carry Killers (concealedcarrykillers.org), an online resource that provides examples of non-self defense killings involving private citizens with permits to carry concealed handguns in public. Information on these incidents is organized by state.
The pernicious myth of the good guy with a gun.
Huffington Post
But statistically, it's more likely that someone with a concealed carry permit will set out to commit mass murder than prevent it.
Analysis by the Violence Policy Center has found that at least 29 mass shootings since 2007 were carried out by perpetrators with concealed carry permits. That's more than three times the number of concealed permit holders whoprevented mass shootings through their swift action. And it's not as though those heroes (and they are heroes) are truly stemming the tide of non-sensical gun deaths in the U.S.: A Washington Post analysis of Federal Bureau of Investigation and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data found that, for every "justifiable" gun homicide in 2012, there were 34 criminal gun homicides, 78 gun suicides, and at least two accidental gun deaths. Similarly, a 2014 study from the University of California–San Francisco found that people who owned a gun were three times as likely to kill themselves as non-firearm owners; by comparison, the annual per capita risk of death during a home invasion is 0.0000002 percent. Hell,even toddlers killed more people than terrorists in 2015. Guns are used far more often for killing than for self-defense, despite the fact that some 63 percent of Americans think guns make them safer.
A well-armed citizenry rarely makes an impact on mass shootings. According to 2014 FBI data, only seven of the 160 of the mass shootings that took place between 2000 and 2013 ended because of some would-be Rambo came to the rescue, according to the Huffington Post—but there was only one true exception (emphasis ours):
More than half (56 percent) were terminated by the shooter who either took his or her own life, simply stopped shooting or fled the scene. Another 26 percent ended in the traditional Hollywood-like fashion with the shooter and law enforcement personnel exchanging gunfire and in nearly all of those situations the shooter ended up either wounded or dead. In 13 percent of the shooting situations, the shooter was successfully disarmed and restrained by unarmed civilians, and in 3 percent of the incidents the shooter was confronted by armed civilians, of whom four were on-duty security guards and one person was just your average "good guy" who happened to be carrying a gun.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Montana man who threatened to ‘execute school kids’ will be able to keep his guns — here’s why
David Joseph Lenio
According to a human rights group and two local rabbis, reducing charges to anything less than a felony would allow him to purchase and own more guns under current law.
Lenio, a restaurant cook, was arrested in February of last year after his roommate said that he had moved guns and ammunition into their apartment. He first came to the attention of authorities when Jonathan Hutson, who was a spokesman for the Brady Campaign at the time, alerted them to the online threats.
Initially jailed with bail set at $500,000, Lenio has since been released on his own recognizance and into the custody of his parents in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Obama said gun owners would support his new restrictions. He was right.
Washington Post
President Obama rolled out a package of executive actions on guns this week. The changes included clarifying rules meant to broaden the use of background checks by private sellers, allocating money for mental health treatment, and adding more staff at the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to help enforce existing regulations.
The changes were modest in scope -- experts and even the NRA agreed that their overall impact would be small. That didn't stop Obama's critics from fiercely denouncing the proposals. But the president predicted the public would be on his side. The actions would be supported by an "overwhelming majority of the American people, including gun owners," he said Monday.
As it turns out, he was right.
A new CNN-ORC survey of 1,000 Americans finds that the public supports Obama's plan by a 2-to-1 ratio: 67 percent of respondents favored the executive actions, while 32 percent opposed them. Even more striking, a similar share of people in gun-owning households -- 63 percent -- supported the measures.
Even more striking: 51 percent of Republicans support Obama's executive action on guns. When's the last time 51 percent of Republicans agreed with Obama on anything?
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Open Carry Tactics May Be Backfiring Onto Concealed Carriers In Texas
Bearing Arms for our readers who have blinders on and think every expansion of gun rights is good for their side. The real damage of course, is that open carry is seen by non-gun owners for just what it is, the stuff of fanatics and 2nd Amendment extremists.
We tried to tell open carry advocates in Texas that their tactics of open carrying long guns into restaurants, stores, and other establishments were causing problems, not winning converts. The major open carry groups in the state eventually backed off what many in the general public saw as an intimidation tactic, and a lesser version of open carry finally became law despite their antics.
Unfortunately it appears that the damage has been done.
In a post on TexasCHLForum.com, a popular gun rights website moderated by National Rifle Association board member Charles L. Cotton, one user reported that the new law has triggered private business owners to not only exercise their right to bar open carry on their premises, but prohibit concealed handguns as well. Any private business in Texas that wishes to bar firearms must display a strictly regulated sign — dubbed “30.07” for openly carried guns, and “30.06” for concealed firearms. Amid the controversy over open carry, this gun owner was noticing more of both varieties.“Got an email from work telling us that not only are 30.07 signs going up over the weekend on our office building but 30.06 as well. What makes this even more frustrating is I have yet to see a single open carry,” wrote a user with the handle LTUME1978, before predicting in a subsequent comment that, at least in Houston, “Once the signs are up, they are not ever going to come down.”
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