Saturday, January 15, 2011

As I Sagely Suspected

It's not an isolated occurrence.

The Catholic Church on Gun Control

From Catholic News Service.

"As bishops, we support measures that control the sale and use of firearms and make them safer -- especially efforts that prevent their unsupervised use by children or anyone other than the owner -- and we reiterate our call for sensible regulation of handguns."

That's followed by a footnote that states: "However, we believe that in the long run and with few exceptions -- i.e. police officers, military use -- handguns should be eliminated from our society."
All right, I guess I have to stop saying no one wants to eliminate guns completely.

Please leave a comment.

Kalishnikov

via Mudrake.

Bill Maher Stole My Line

"Just admit it, you like guns."

Ray Stern on the Gun Issue in AZ

This op-ed is a riot. If the argument for guns were sound, why would the author have to resort to anecdotal incidents and generalizations?

The other side: Sort of metrosexual. Unwilling to take their own security seriously. The anti-gun culture doesn't fear guns in the way that members of the gun culture fear guns. Their fear is more irrational, phobic - almost superstitious, as if the very presence of guns invites death.

People who don't own or know much about guns -- we imagine that these are often the same type of people who, during a sudden electricity blackout, are initially baffled about what to do. They may not have fire extinguishers in their homes, or, if they do, they're so buried behind stuff in a cabinet that they'd be useless in a fire.

The best part is the comment by Dennis Gilman.

Here is my own statistic or observation:
At every protest I've ever attended in Az, those with the biggest insecurities, mentally disturbed, lowest self esteem, most dishonest and cowardly were the ones strappin guns.

Guns and losers seem to go hand in hand. Why is that Ray? Answer later. I'm on my way out the door.

I'll be taking a walk...at night....Alone...without the need to pack heat. Don't hate me because I'm beautiful Ray. Us "Metrosexuals" get all the pussy. We did in High School and College and some things never change. But you can always sleep with your gun.
UPDATE - My comment was removed over there, you know that thing the pro-gun guys keep accusing us of doing. It's really no never mind, it was just calling him out on this stuff I posted about.

Photos of NRA Hero Loughner

Cops: Photos Show Loughner Wearing Red G-String, Holding Glock

Before he allegedly went on a mass killing spree Saturday, Jared Lee Loughner had photos of himself developed at a local Walgreens that showed him dressed in a bright red g-string, a Glock 9mm gun next to his naked buttocks, the New York Times reports

Something tells me a lot of gunloons do this....

Friday, January 14, 2011

Crime in the UK

Jim, in comments, raises the old gunloon canard that the UK is a far more violent place than the US, South Africa, and most EU countries.

He cites this article.  In a nutshell, The Daily Mail argues that the UK has a violent crime rate of 2,034 per 100,000 citizens, the US has 466 per 100K and South Africa has 1,677 per 100K.

Now, if I were a gunloon, I'd attack the messenger.  I might point out The Daily Mail was big champion of Adolf Hitler, in particular, and fascism, in general. I might point out The Daily Mail has lost a number of libel suits to various people, including Elton John, Diana Rigg, and Kate Winslet to mention a few.

But I won't.

Instead, I"ll point out The Daily Mail fails to note crime statistics vary from nation to nation, both in the way they're categorized and the way they're tabulated.  For instance, playing one's stereo too loud is counted as a violent crime in the UK--in most other countries, it may not even rate a misdemeanor charge.  Similarly, the UK has what is called an affray which consists of 2 or more people fighting/arguing in a public place--this, too, is categorized as a violent crime.  In the US, such an instance might rate a misdemeanor.

It's very easy to see The Daily Mail piece doesn't pass the smell test.  We know homide rates in, say South Africa are about 10 times higher than the US and nearly 40 times higher than the UK.