Major Insanity in a Dozen Other States

via The Inquisitr

States currently considering the no permit law include

Colorado, Iowa, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota and Virgina, according to the NRA.

The first state to jump into the mix appears to be South Dakota after lawmakers last week created a law allowing anyone 18 or older with a valid state driver’s license to carry a concealed weapon following a clean background check, that bill is still awaiting final approval from Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard.

Supporters of the measure argue that crime rates are already low in Alaska, Arizona, Vermont and Wyoming, states where a carry and conceal permit is not required.

Well, I guess you could say crime rates are low in Alaska and Arizona. I guess it depends on what you compare them to.

What's your opinion on this "Constitutional Carry" idea? Please leave a comment.

Major Insanity in Georgia - What Else Would You Expect?

The Uncle of the Bremerton 9-Year-Old Shooter

The Seattle Times reports on the heart-wrenching comments by the uncle of the boy we spoke of the other day. The mom is being charged.


This video gives us a little glimpse into the far-reaching devastation which a gun incident causes. It goes way beyond the incident itself and the people hurt.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Vermont Proposed Legislation - Pay for Not Owning a Gun

via Second Amendment, Shooting and Firearms Blog

Vermont State Rep. Fred Maslack has read the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as well as Vermont’s own Constitution very carefully, and his strict interpretation of these documents is popping some eyeballs in New England and elsewhere.

Maslack recently proposed a bill to register “non-gun-owners”and require them to pay a $500 fee to the state. Thus Vermont would become the first state to require a permit for the luxury of going about unarmed and assess a fee of $500 for the privilege of not owning a gun.

Maslack read the “militia” phrase of the Second Amendment as not only the right of the individual citizen to bear arms, but as a clear mandate to do so.

This bizarre nonsense must be a wild bargaining trick. If they propose such outlandish things as this, we'll be happy with the status quo.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

T.J. Lane, the Ohio School Shooter

Cliff Schecter wrote a wonderful piece for Crooks and Liars

Earlier this week it happened again. We don't know all the details, but what we do know is this. A young man named T.J. Lane walked into high school—here in my home state of Ohio—approached a table full of kids and started shooting.

Like with any tragedy such as this, there were many handmaidens. Certainly, chief among them was the violence this young man bore witness to regularly, in a household reportedly filled with it. His parents, both charged with domestic abuse and other violent behavior in the past, seemingly helped nurture a disturbed and dangerous kid.

But it's also been reported that the killer's grandfather—from whom Lane accessed the gun used—had so many weapons lying around that he couldn't figure out a gun was missing until afterwards. Read that sentence again.

Teaching a child that violence solves everything and giving him access to an arsenal. That should make his family criminally liable—although, current Ohio law will not allow that to happen.

Because, make no mistake, it's a love affair with guns by an obsessive and loud minority and the resulting lax regulation, which are key reasons these things just don't happen on a regular basis in any other Western country. While TJ Lane had easy pickings among a bevy of unaccounted-for weapons, the state of Virginia—under its culturally-Ragtime-Era governor—was removing a law that limited buyers to one handgun purchase per month. Which totally makes sense—how can you hunt moose or protect your house with only 12 guns per year? 

About the two handmaidens, The violent family which teaches a kid that violence is the answer, although culpable, might be hard to identify and prove in many cases. But the other one, easy access to guns is not. The grandfather should be in jail and lose his gun rights. Safe storage laws could take care of many of these situations.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Fiorino Gets a Nice Pay Day

Philly.com reports on one of our favorite poster boys, just look at that mug.

A gun-rights advocate whom police stopped for openly carrying a weapon will settle his lawsuit against the City of Philadelphia for $25,000. Mark Fiorino's lawyer said the suit was not about money but about retraining police on open-carry laws.

Fiorino, 25, an information-technology worker from Lansdale, said he had been stopped three times for wearing a holstered gun on his hip. That's legal in Pennsylvania if the gun owner has a permit.

Fiorino recorded one profane police encounter and posted it online. His lawsuit alleged "vindictive prosecution."

I think the joke's on him and all his supporters. Open carry damages the gun-rights movement. Non-gun people, in other words, most people see guys like this as fanatics. The more prevalent they become, the worse the pro-gun folks will be thought of.

And after this pay-out, I would imagine there'll be more.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Say Good-Bye to Ron Paul

Business Insider reports on the bad news for Ron Paul fans.  I'm disappointed because the other guys are worse. It makes you wonder what the hell people are thinking. All three of the others say we should bomb Iran, for crying out loud.

The septuagenarian presidential candidate has based his campaign strategy on picking up delegates in the low-turnout caucus states, and was looking for his first win on Super Tuesday. His campaign's expectations were high going into yesterday's caucus contests in North Dakota, Idaho, and Alaska, three states well-known for their strong libertarian streaks. The candidate had also put in a surprising amount of campaign legwork in those target states this week, even traveling to Anchorage this week to rally voters in Alaska's tiny Republican nominating contest.

But the libertarian stalwart was frustrated on all three fronts. In North Dakota, Paul came in second behind Rick Santorum, despite rallying caucus-goers in Fargo on election night. The results were even more disappointing in Idaho, where Paul trailed behind Mitt Romney and Santorum. The race was closer in Alaska, but Paul still finished in third place.