Philippine Gun Lovers

AFP published an article about the return of gun rights to the Philippines.

Standing amid an array of foreign assault rifles and local shotguns at one of the Philippines' largest shopping malls, firearms aficionados celebrated the rise of the nation's new president.

Benigno Aquino, who took office on June 30, is an avid sports shooter and clips on YouTube show him using a semi-automatic pistol with great skill at a target shooting competition.

"The feeling is that he is one of us. He also inhales gunpowder," said Johnmuel Mendoza, head of PRO-Gun, the country's largest firearms-rights group, at the twice-yearly gun show in Manila's vast "Megamall".

Inhaling gunpowder? Could that explain some of the wild assertions we sometimes hear from the gun crowd? Is that even legal, inhaling gunpowder? (Before anybody starts attacking, I'm being facetious. I took that expression to mean he really, really loves guns.)

But what about the report we recently discussed, which I hope someone reported to Joe Huffman, about the crime going down during the six-months of restrictions? I wonder what the immediate future holds for the Philippines.

There are about 1.3 million licensed firearms in the Philippines, with 600,000 in the hands of private citizens and the rest held by the military, police and other law-enforcement agencies, according to police estimates.

However police said last year there were also about 1.1 million unlicensed firearms in the Philippines.

The combined tally means there is roughly one firearm in circulation for every 40 Filipinos.

I'm expecting blood in the streets, how about you?

Please leave a comment.

Is the NRA Racist?

Commenter TS demands I show my contentention the NRA is racist is true.

Okeydokey.

Now, most every organization likely has racist members; this point is frequently made by NRA quislings in an attempt to explain away the NRA's racism. And it's true that one can find racists in the armed services or various businesses or civic groups--but that doesn't mean that organization is racist. In order for a group or organization to be racist, it must be demonstrated that the leadership condones and/or advocates racist views. So, with this premise, let's look at the NRA.

1. Leadership condones racist views. I'm sure most readers are familiar with this article detailing the racism of NRA Board members Ted Nugent and Jeff Cooper. Here's a speech by Charlton Heston that got great reviews by David Duke and StormFront. There are many, many other examples; the bottomline is that these racist views weren't expressed by some blowhard rank-and-file NRA member--they were from the top of the NRA leadership.
2. Freedom In Peril The NRA at first tried to deny they had anything to do with this bit of racist propaganda. Per this tract, it's pretty apparent the NRA doesn't like any minority---even lobsters.
3. Gun Shows and White Supremacists. NRA-sponsored gun shows often have vendors selling Nazi paraphernalia, white supremacist books (The Turner Diaries, etc.) and materials, and various conspiract theory materials.
4. NRA Association With White Supremacist Groups. The NRA has associated with known racist groups such as the Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC), the Minuteman Project and various other white supremacist groups.

There's no smoke here--only fire.

Peace Frog - The Doors

Dedicated to AztecRed. He writes a good blog too, although it needs a better title.

Georgia Man Kills Ex-Girfriend

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on the latest domestic abuse killing.

A Calhoun man was hospitalized in police custody Friday after allegedly shooting his ex-girlfriend to death and wounding two teens before being shot by police.

The scene unfolded Thursday evening across the northern edges of Gordon County, 70 miles north of Atlanta, where 38-year-old Paul Buchannon led county sheriff’s deputies on a hunt that ended near Hill City.

The article goes on explain that he'd already "had prior domestic violence-related arrests." Does that mean that they may not have resulted in convictions and that he was not a disqualified person?

Either way, the gun availability in Georgia is the problem. Oftentimes, dangerous people like this are not disqualified by the "draconian" laws, and if they are they can easily arm up by asking a friend or relative for a gun.

The solution: much stricter laws concerning gun acquisition and gun ownership. It's a no brainer.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Be Prepared

We've discussed the need to be prepared for meteorite strikes before, but now, thanks to the Daily Telegraph, we see the danger is much greater.

Men who believe in being prepared, the Robert Farago types and the Nurse Xavier types, should take note. I'm seriously worried about them and all the guys who spend so much time and energy on protecting themselves against attack from their fellow man that they neglect the ever present danger from the skies.

What's your opinion? Do you think many gun owners are simply paranoid? They can write volumes about why they need the gun, but invariably (almost invariably) they'll report they've never needed it.

Please leave a comment.

Theresa Wilson

The Examiner reported on the upcoming execution of a woman who arranged for the murder of her husband and step-son.

On Thursday, a September 23 execution date was scheduled for Theresa Wilson Lewis. In 2003, she pleaded guilty to masterminding the October 2002 murders of her husband and stepson in Pittsylvania County.

Reading the details of her crime, you can't help thinking this must be one of them hillbilly heroin kinda gals, one of them white trash folks right from the trailer park. The details are incredibly lurid, complete with pimping herself and her daughter to the killers as partial payment.

But, do we really want to continue executing people like this? Is the claim that addiction and mental instability played a mitigating role so absurd that it should be eliminated from the equation?

Someone who is capable of doing this crime, despite her pill addiction and dependency on men, or whatever else she had, perhaps should not be free. But putting these sick members of our society down with a lethal injection makes our entire society sicker.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

The Glenn Beck Gold Scam

The Big Picture published a wonderful graphic describing the participation of Glenn Beck in this unscrupulous gold scam. Lots of people have pitched gold at inflated prices, but old Glenn put his fear of government into it in a slick way.

Quoting a 1933 FDR Executive Order, Beck informed his listeners that the government can in fact take away all your gold EXCEPT ANTIQUE COINS.

A 1/4 oz. proof gold American Eagle has melt value of $285, competitors sell them for $318, Goldline charges $815. If you bought these as a hedge against inflation, you immediately lost 64%. The price of gold would have to soar to $3,200 for you to break even.

What's your opinion? Is Glenn Beck anything more than a carny hustler, really?

Please leave a comment.