Louisiana Proves that More Guns Don't Make us Safer

MSNBC

For Louisiana, the stakes could not be higher: it has the worst gun murder rate in the nation, and the highest rate of children killed with guns. Overall, guns have been used to kill more people in Louisiana in recent years than in any other state, according to a new analysis.

Between 2001 and 2010, 4,519 people were killed by guns here, more than a thousand more losses than U.S. combat troops suffered during the Iraq War. More than 75% of those victims were African-American. Haunted by the losses, members of the Black Caucus try again and again to introduce some measure of gun control legislation.

But their efforts are always thwarted while a far more powerful group of Republicans and white Democrats stokes Louisiana’s love affair with guns.

Guns are everywhere. On Mother’s Day, a shooting broke out at a New Orleans parade and two children were among 20 people wounded by gunfire. People were injured during a shooting after the Martin Luther King Day parade, and at another just before Mardi Gras festivities.

Yet the pro-gun beat is only getting louder.

“In Louisiana, as we’ve seen for a few years now, they are introducing legislation to allow more people to carry more guns in more places,” said Brian Malte, director of policy and advocacy for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

“If more guns mean a safer society, Louisiana would be the state with the lowest rates of gun violence. In fact, it has one of the highest because of a lack of gun violence prevention laws.”

Why is that?  Why is Louisiana so much worse than the rest of the country if more guns make us safer?

Let me take a stab at that one?  The "more guns make us safer" suggestion is a blatant lie propagated by the leaders of the gun-rights movement and repeated over and over again by the sheep-like followers who often don't even think for themselves.  If they did, they'd immediately see the foolishness of such a position.  Louisiana is proof.

Allow me to anticipate one of the common retorts we often hear. The above chart and its article is concerned with "gun" murders. When we remove the "gun" part, guess which state is still on top.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Jeffrey Nugent Says Little Brother Ted is Wrong on Background Checks

Courtesty of Jeffrey Nugent - Jeffrey Nugent, left, and Ted Nugent with a wild boar they killed in 2006.

Washington Post

And I agree with Ted that our constitutional right to bear arms should not be undermined. I want all those who are qualified to purchase a gun to be able to do so. But — and here is where I part ways with my brother — not everyone is qualified to own a gun, so expanded background checks should be a legislative priority.

I believe strongly that expanding and improving mandatory background checks will keep a lot of people who aren’t entitled to Second Amendment rights from having easy access to guns. As of today, a convicted felon can find a gun show or a private seller and buy a firearm without a background check. That loophole should be closed. Every gun transaction must include a thorough background check. Why would responsible gun owners want to protect people who threaten not only our safety but our gun rights?

The NRA has it wrong: Irresponsible gun owners are bad for everyone. If you shouldn’t have access to a gun, then there should be no way for you to access a gun! Can anyone argue with that?

No, of course no one could argue with that, not and maintain any credibility.

What's your opinion?  Please leave  a comment.

Utah Man Gets Prison for Shooting Neighbor over ‘Telepathic’ Rape

Melony Selleneit Courtesy Davis County Sheriff's Office

The Salt Lake City Tribune

To this day, Michael Selleneit believes his wife is in danger.

A year and a half after he shot his neighbor in Centerville — claiming self-defense because the neighbor had "telepathically" raped his wife — Selleneit’s attorney said he still hears voices telling him his wife is going to be killed or raped.

"He still to this day is very, very concerned about his wife’s safety," attorney Julie George told 2nd District Judge Thomas Kay during Selleneit’s sentencing Thursday. 

In January, the 55-year-old Selleneit pleaded guilty — but mentally ill — to reduced charges of attempted manslaughter and use of a firearm by a restricted person, both second-degree felonies, for shooting 41-year-old Tony Pierce in October 2011.

On Thursday, Kay ordered Selleneit to serve two consecutive terms of one-to-15 years in the Utah State Prison. However, Kay said he could be confined at the Utah State Hospital until hospital officials determine he no longer needs treatment. At that time, he would be taken to the prison.

It makes you wonder how many crazy people own guns. 

School Shooting Caller Turned Himself in to Psych Services

Students wait across the street from East LA City College after being evacuated because of a threat of violence against the school. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times / May 16, 2013)

LA Times 

A 19-year-old Santa Monica College student who allegedly threatened to “shoot up” a local school Thursday turned himself in to psychological services, where police arrested him, authorities said.
The student, who authorities did not immediately identify, was arrested  about 9:30 a.m. Thursday after police used his phone number to confirm that he was the person who called 911 hours earlier, said Santa Monica College Police Chief Albert Vasquez.

Police said the man was near East Los Angeles College when he called the California Highway Patrol sometime before 8 a.m. saying he had a gun and was going to shoot up a school.

Authorities immediately notified the local sheriff’s station and city police, who shut down nearly a dozen schools in the area.

The man also said he was going to shoot himself on campus.

The threats caused widespread chaos at numerous schools in Santa Monica and Monterey Park.

Jodi Arias - Life in Prison or the Death Penalty?

Jodi Arias reacts during the sentencing phase of her trial at Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, Wednesday, May 15, 2013. (AP / The Arizona Republic, Rob Schumacher, Pool)

Local news reports

Steven Alexander stood before the jury, looked up at a family picture and grimaced and cried as he ticked off the list of problems that have befallen him in the five years since his brother was murdered: ulcers, depression, a separation from his wife, nightmares.

The dreams consist of someone coming at him with a knife then going after his wife and daughter. Other times, he has nightmares about his brother, "curled up in a shower, thrown in there, left to rot for days, all alone." He feels like a child, unable to sleep alone in the dark.

"I don't want these nightmares anymore. I don't want to see my brother's murderer anymore," he said.

The gut-wrenching comments came as jurors began considering whether Jodi Arias should get a life sentence or be executed for the 2008 stabbing death of Travis Alexander. Jurors became visibly shaken as Steven Alexander and his sister spoke on deeply emotional levels in arguing for the death penalty. Arias sobbed throughout the hearing, with tears streaming down her face and landing on her black shirt.

Arias, 32, acknowledged killing Alexander at his suburban Phoenix home after a day of sex on June 4, 2008. She initially denied any involvement and later blamed the attack on masked intruders. Two years after her arrest, Arias said she killed Alexander in self-defence.

The victim suffered nearly 30 knife wounds, had his throat slit from ear to ear and was shot in the forehead. Prosecutors say the attack was fueled by jealous rage after Alexander wanted to end his affair with Arias and prepared to take a trip to Mexico with another woman.

I blame Arizona. If only she didn't have such easy access to that gun, her boyfriend would be alive today.

Now tell me the truth.  How many of you failed to recognize that as a joke?  C'mon, I won't make fun of you for being stiff and humorless. How many?

The obvious point of the post is about the death penalty.  The blood-thirsty relatives seem to think their nightmares will stop if she's sentenced to death.  Often we hear this. They want closure or they want to move on with their lives. 

I don't believe killing the guilty person provides those things.  Do you?

It's beside the point, anyway.  Capital punishment is state-sanctioned pre-meditated murder and as such should have no place in a civilized society.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

ABOUT TIME!

I saw one of these flags and thought it looked like a pile of dog shit. I couldn't help wonder when someone would come up with a parody.

Well, someone did!

I do wish the person had made the dog shit look more like the snake, but you can't have everything...

Why paying off the National Debt is a baaadddd idea.

It didn't work so well the last time it happened.  You can listen to this.

And toss in that Andrew Jackson let the Second Bank of the United States' charter expire as well.  That led to a period called the "Free Banking" Era.